4 months after bitter defeat, Mitt Romney says it 'kills' him not to be president

Four months after his bitter election defeat, a reflective Mitt Romney said it "kills" him not to be president and admitted mistakes were made in his losing White House campaign - particularly his failure to win over minority voters.

In his first television interview since November's loss to President Barack Obama, Romney leveled a fresh blast of criticism at Obama for failing to lead and putting politics ahead of results in the confrontation with congressional Republicans over the budget and spending cuts.

"It kills me not to be there, not to be in the White House doing what needs to be done," Romney said in an interview on the "Fox News Sunday" program, adding that Obama was still campaigning rather than bringing people together to craft a deal.

"I don't see that kind of leadership happening right now," the 2012 Republican presidential candidate said. "The hardest thing about losing is watching this critical moment, this golden moment slip away with politics."

Romney's interview was the first step in a slow public re-entry for the former Massachusetts governor, who has been largely secluded at his southern California home with his wife Ann since the November loss.

In two weeks, Romney will make his first public speech since the election, to a conference of conservative activists in Washington.

In the Fox interview, taped last week and aired on Sunday, Romney mostly avoided questions about the heavy criticism he has received from his fellow Republicans for running a lackluster and gaffe-prone campaign.

"I don't spend my life looking back," Romney said, adding he would not run again but he would still be active in public life.

He said he should have done a better job in appealing to minority voters including blacks and Hispanics, calling his failure "a real mistake."

Romney, who called for "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants during the Republican primaries, lost the vote of more than seven of every 10 Hispanics to Obama. Most of the illegal immigrants in the United States are Hispanics.

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