Republican Romney calls for US 'innovation'

DEARBORN, Mich., Feb 13 (Reuters) Republican Mitt Romney, a conservative former governor of Massachusetts, today launched his 2008 White House run with a call for ''innovation and ransformation'' that could rejuvenate the US economy and restore faith in government.

Standing in the Henry Ford museum in suburban Detroit, Romney said he could reclaim the spirit of ingenuity that transformed American industry.

''It is time for innovation and transformation in Washington,'' Romney said, standing on a stage in front of a new Ford hybrid and a classic AMC Rambler from his father's old car company.

''Innovation and transformation have been at the heart of America's success,'' said Romney, the son of a former governor of Michigan and auto executive. ''If ever there was a time when innovation and transformation were needed in government, it is now.'' Romney has positioned himself to be a more conservative alternative to early Republican favorites John McCain, a senator from Arizona, and Rudolph Giuliani, the former mayor of New York.

But his pitch to conservatives who play a key role in Republican primaries has been complicated by his inconsistency on social issues like gay rights and abortion rights, which he once supported but now opposes.

It also is unclear if Romney can win over evangelicals skeptical of his devout Mormon faith.

''We have lost faith in government, not in just one party, not in just one house, but in government,'' he said. ''Our government has become a weight on the American people.'' REUTERS DKA RN2018