Romney Has Conciliatory Remarks on Obama and Health Overhaul The remarks, made in an interview on the NBC News program "Meet The Press," seemed to mark the emergence of a less openly partisan, more general-election-oriented Republican nominee, who is intent on appealing to middle-of-the-road voters who have not yet made up their minds. At one point, Mr. Romney said that a speech on Thursday by the country's last Democratic president, Bill Clinton, had "elevated" the party's convention in Charlotte, N.C. When the show's host, David Gregory, asked Mr. Romney what elements of Mr. Obama's health care program he would maintain, Mr. Romney said he would still require that insurance companies cover those with pre-existing conditions, just as the president's law has. Mr. Romney, whose standing in several national polls improved slightly after the Republican convention in Tampa, said, "I'm in a better spot than I was before the convention." "People got to see Ann and hear our story," Mr. Romney said, referring to this wife. With the Federal Reserve contemplating actions to stimulate the economy, Mr. Romney registered his disapproval, saying that he did not think that "easing monetary policy is going to make a significant difference in the job market right now." Mr. Romney, who has criticized the president over the rising federal debt, said he would seek to balance the budget in 8 to 10 years, perhaps after his own potential presidency would end. Any attempt to do so in a first term, Mr. Romney said, would have "a dramatic impact on the economy -- too dramatic." Mr. Romney said he disagreed with a compromise made last year by the White House and Congressional Republicans that called for automatic cuts to military spending as a way to force a deal on deficit reduction. The interview provided another forum in which Mr. Romney was questioned about the omission in his convention speech of any mention of the war in Afghanistan. Mr. Romney seemed defensive when Mr. Gregory asked him about criticism from the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard -- and from others on both sides of the ideological divide -- ­ that he did not speak about the conflict in accepting his party's nomination at the Republican convention in Tampa, Fla. "The Weekly Standard took you to task in your convention speech for not mentioning the war in Afghanistan one time," Mr. Gregory asked. When Mr. Gregory noted that his American Legion address did not have the same large audience as the convention speech ­ -- "tens of millions of people" -- Mr. Romney replied: "You know, what I've found is that wherever I go, I am speaking to tens of millions of people. In leaving the war out of his convention address, Mr. Romney seemed to have left an opening for President Obama, who said in his own speech: "Tonight, we pay tribute to the Americans who still serve in harm's way. We are forever in debt to a generation whose sacrifice has made this country safer and more respected. We will never forget you. Pressed on his social views, Mr. Romney reiterated that he did not think that taxpayers should have to pay for abortions and that he wanted Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Reminded that he had once called himself a "severe" conservative, Mr. Romney seemed to play down that description. "I am as conservative as the Constitution," he said. In an appearance in Melborune, Fla., Sunday, President Obama, picking up where former President Bill Clinton left off, said that the budget proposals offered by Mitt Romney and Paul D. Ryan do not add up. But after Mr. Clinton's ringing endorsement of Mr. Obama in a well-received Democratic convention speech on Thursday, the president mentioned his Democratic predecessor at every stop on a bus tour of Florida over the weekend. Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this post misstated a subject Mitt Romney addressed during his convention speech. He did not mention conflict in Afghanistan.