Romney Says He Would Veto the Dream Act LE MARS, Iowa - In Le Mars, Iowa, the self-proclaimed ice cream capital of the world, Mitt Romney ordered a scoop of rocky road before heading to his first campaign stop of the day, a crowded restaurant filled with more than 200 voters. But the metaphor enthusiasts - see: rocky road - may be disappointed, because Mr. Romney did not sound like a candidate bracing for a long, hard slog. Instead, the former governor of Massachusetts sounded an enthusiastic, upbeat note, telling the crowd that, "If I'm the Republican nominee, I'll be back in Iowa to win the general election, and we will win Iowa." "We'll go to Washington with a mandate to make sure we get this country back on the right track," he said. I'm going to be back in Iowa. Mr. Romney offered his usual stump speech - a focus on President Obama, with no mention of his Republican rivals - but when a voter asked him if he'd veto the Dream Act as president, Mr. Romney said, "The answer is yes." Though Mr. Romney has previously been critical of the legislation, which would provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who were brought into the country at a young age and then went on to attend college, Saturday marked the first time that he has outright declared that he would veto the legislation should it cross his desk as president. "I'm delighted with the idea that people who come to this country and wish to serve in the military can be given a path to become permanent residents of this country," he said. Those who serve in our military and fulfill those requirements, I respect and acknowledge that path. For those who come here illegally, the idea of giving them in-state tuition credits or other special benefits I find to be contrary to the idea of a nation of law. He added: "If I'm the president of the United States, I want to end illegal immigration so that we can protect legal immigration. I like legal immigration. The Democrats and Mr. Obama's re-election team pounced on the remark. David Axelrod, a former senior advisor to the president, took to Twitter to call the comments, "Wrong on principle & politics." Mr. Romney, meanwhile, was busy criticizing Mr. Obama, describing the current state of the economy and the country as "a detour, however, not a destiny." "We know this is a great land," he said. That's why when the president went around at the beginning of his term and apologized for America around the world, it made us just heartsick. I will never apologize for the greatness of the United States of America. He appeared with his youngest son, Craig, who took the microphone to recount a Romney family tradition - an annual, mini-triathlon with "a short little swim and a bike race and then a run at the end." Craig's wife had just had her second child, but decided to compete anyways. "All the boys had finished at that point and it was down to my wife and my dad over here," the younger Mr. Romney said. I tripped her, I tripped her! Mr. Romney cut in, to laughter. In the end, the son explained, Mr. Romney came from behind to eek out his daughter-in-law - "He did almost die trying, by the way, he passed out in the lawn chair and we didn't see him the rest of the day," he quipped. "And you see this fight to the finish, he went for this, he gave it everything he had, he gave it a good kick and he beat her in the end," he continued. It's that type of hard work, it's that type of determination I think we need in the White House. We need someone who can go in there and solve the challenges we're facing in the country and my dad's the guy to do it. After the Le Mars event, Mr. Romney headed to Sioux City, Iowa, to offer some New Year's Eve remarks. "I hope I'm not the highlight of the evening," Mr. Romney joked. That would be a pretty sad evening. Mr. Romney's traveling press corps - for whom New Year's Eve is shaping up to be a fairly sad evening - trailed behind him in a press bus, but not before stopping at Blue Bunny to sample some of the ice cream that Mr. Romney and his son had been touting. Inside the ice cream shop, the young woman behind the counter confirmed that Mr. Romney had, in fact, ordered the rocky road. So, pressed one reporter, had Mr. Romney sampled several flavors? Had he flipped-flopped, or was he decisive? The verdict: He knew exactly what he wanted, and went straight for the rocky road.