Romney: 'I can’t wait to get my hands on Washington'

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday tried to convince attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to vote for him by reminding them of his "severely conservative" record, including preventing Massachusetts from becoming "the Las Vegas of gay marriage."

"History will record the Obama presidency as last gasp of liberalism's great failure and a turning point for the conservative era to come," the candidate predicted. "I know this president will never get it, but we conservatives aren't just proud to cling to our guns and our religion, we are also proud to cling to our Constitution."

"As governor of Massachusetts, I had the unique experience of defending conservative principles in the most liberal state in the nation," Romney said. "Even with a legislature that was 85 percent Democrat, I cut taxes 19 times and balanced the budget all four years. I cast over 800 vetoes and cut entire programs. ... And I can’t wait to get my hands on Washington!"

"Less than a year after I took office, the state's Supreme Court inexplicably found a right to same sex marriage in the Constitution, written by John Adams. ... I successfully prohibited out-of-state couples from coming to our state to get married and then going home. On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage."

The former governor added that he supported the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and a constitutional amendment barring same sex marriage.

"My state was a leading indicator of what liberals would be trying to do across the country and what they are trying to do right now. And I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor," he explained.

Romney once again repeated his pledge to defund Planned Parenthood.

"And I will reverse every single Obama regulation that attacks our religious liberty and threatens innocent life in this country," he told the conservative crowd.

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Feb. 10, 2012.