Romney shows softer side in 2016 campaign preview

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mitt Romney is offering a rare glimpse of his softer side as he marches toward an unlikely third presidential bid focused on poverty.

The Republican Party's 2012 presidential nominee on Friday cited the support of his wife, Ann, as he addressed the Republican National Committee's winter meeting in San Diego.

Romney says that his wife "believes that people get better with experience. And heaven knows I have experience running for president."

The remarks were Romney's first public acknowledgement of 2016 presidential ambitions. He outlined three principles during a 15-minute speech, while referencing his work with the poor, sick and elderly as a volunteer church pastor — a topic he rarely addressed during his previous campaigns.

His new focus includes national security, middle-class opportunity and "breaking the scourge of poverty."