Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, used his stop in Texas at the Veterans of Foreign Wars annual convention in San Antonio to emphasize his financial credentials.
His comments in Texas come as national polls show Perry with more support than Romney, who for months has led the pack seeking the Republican presidential nomination.
Perry, the governor of Texas, has bested Romney by making provocative statements that appeal to Republican conservatives and get lots of headlines.
Romney in Texas appears to be trying to cast himself as an outsider while suggesting that “insider” Perry isn’t prepared to deal with the nation’s problems.
“I am a conservative businessman. I have spent most of my life outside of politics, dealing with real problems in the real economy,” Romney told the VFW convention.
He didn’t name Perry, but said: “Career politicians got us into this mess and they simply don’t know how to get us out.”
The candidate who wins that nomination will challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012.
Romney was a businessman who headed the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and later founded a venture capital firm before serving a single term as Massachusetts governor.
Perry is Texas’ longest-serving governor and has been an elected public official for 27 years, having served as lieutenant governor, agricultural commissioner and a state representative before becoming governor in 2000.
Addressing the VFW on Monday, Perry said the US should avoid “military adventurism” abroad. And he said that when it comes time to fight, US combat troops must be led by American commanders.
Perry also said the US does not need a new economic stimulus package to deal with rising unemployment — but offered no alternative, saying only that he “won’t spend all the money.”
In his speech, Romney said his years outside Washington gave him a fresh perspective on how best to manage federal defense spending.
“I look at that kind of inefficiency and bloat and say, ‘Let me at it,’ ” Romney said. He promised to slice billions of dollars in waste, inefficiency and bureaucracy from the defense budget to free up money for modern ships and planes, more troops and ensuring that veterans have the care they deserve.
