One-on-One with Romney in Ohio
MANSFIELD, Ohio — Voters rallied for Mitt Romney during his most recent visit to northern Ohio on Monday.
“No question, business and employment is going to do better if I become President,” said the former Governor of Massachusetts, during an interview with FOX 8′s Mark Zinni.
Romney spoke to a crowd of approximately 1,200 people at PR Machine Works, a manufacturing facility with 80 employees in Richland County.
“No question, as I go across Ohio, what I hear day-in and day-out is people concerned about their jobs going forward, concerned about lower incomes. They need more take home pay,” said Gov. Romney. “The cost of gasoline, healthcare, food, almost everything has gone up and people don’t see rising wages, they want some help, people don’t see rising wages. So my focus is getting more jobs and more take home pay.”
The visit from the GOP nominee comes a few days after the latest jobs report from the government, which showed the economy added 96,000 jobs and unemployment dropped from 8.3% to 8.1%, but the decrease is attributed to approximately 368,000 people who stopped looking for work.
“He’s the man, a very stellar businessman and a good faith-filled gentleman and that’s what we need, a family man, an honest man,” said Marilyn Veres from Wooster.
Both Marilyn and her husband, Frank, are confident Romney is the right choice.
Romney’s speech focused almost entirely on the U.S. economy, even though Ohio continues to add jobs under Governor John Kasich’s republican administration.
“I think it’s a real recognition that when you have pro-growth policies like Governor Kasich has put in place here, you’re gonna do better than if you have the kinda draconian and anti-job growth, high tax, anti-business approach that some other states have pursued,” said Romney.
The former governor calls himself someone who is pro-jobs and promises pro-job creator policies.
“When you have a state that’s doing the right things, you’re going to have more job growth,” he said. “When you have a nation that encourages those same policies, well, you’re gonna see things even better here in Ohio. Ohio is still not back to the level it oughtta be, with rising wages and lots of jobs coming in – that can happen again but it’s going to take Washington to fight for the same kinds of policies you’re seeing Governor Kasich fight for here.”
Governor Romney has vowed to add jobs, cut the deficit and increase defense spending. His speech on Monday wasn’t far from the Mansfield Air National Guard Base, which, due to defense budget cuts, has a questionable future under the Obama administration.
“The President’s Secretary of Defense said these cuts would be devastating to the military, I’d reverse them. I don’t believe in shrinking our military,” said Romney.
Romney, who previously wrote a New York Times opinion piece entitled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” now promises to continue fostering policies that will aid the automobile industry.
“My posture was, the automobile industry needed to go through bankruptcy to emerge stronger. It took the President about six months to reach the same conclusion, because as you know, he took General Motors and Chrysler through bankruptcy. Now the industry has come back, I’m delighted that it’s doing better,” said Romney.
Jessica Kershaw, the press secretary for Obama for America, released the following response to Romney’s event in Mansfield:
“President Obama is looking out for Ohio’s small businesses by cutting taxes 18 times since taking office while the Romney-Ryan plan would raise taxes on most small businesses to help pay for more tax cuts for millionaires. At the same time, it’s ironic that Mitt Romney has chosen to push his doom and gloom economic message at a company that is adding jobs and expanding its facilities under President Obama, especially one whose clients include automakers which are thriving in spite of Romney’s desire to ‘let Detroit go bankrupt.’
Romney’s running mate, Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, was in Westlake last week and will be back in Ohio in a few days. The former governor also plans to be back several times before election day.
Supporters, like Mardy Beilstein from Mansfield, said either candidate is always welcome in her hometown.
“Well, he stands for all the principals I am for and I think, economically, he has good leadership and I think he can bring us back to where we should be in the United States, keep God in everything,” she explained.
Several recent polls have President Obama and Governor Romney in a statistical tie in Ohio.
