Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Romney: "I'm focused on big things"

Before an enthusiastic crowd of 4,000 supporters at milling company in Bond Hill, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney promised to focus on "big change" as president, while hammering at President Obama for being focused on "small things."

"He has now resorted to talking about characters on Sesame Street,'' Romney said, referring to Romney own reference to the Sesame Street character Big Bird in one of the presidential debates and his plans to cut funding for public broadcasting.

Obama's campaign jumped on the issue, producing a TV ad accusing Romney of going after Big Bird, while protecting wealthy billionaires and millionaires.

"His campaign gets focused on smaller and smaller things all the time,'' said Romney, in an appearance at Jet Machine Co. off Seymour Avenue in Bond Hill, a company that does work for the defense, aerospace and oil and gas industries.

"Our campaign is focused on big things,'' said Romney, flanked by a large group of Jet Machine employees and other supporters. "We need big changes and I am going to bring it to this country."

Speaking in a key county in a state that could decide the Nov. 6 election, Romney laid out his plan to create 12 million new jobs over the next four years, ensure American energy independence and protect Medicare for the elderly - a program that the Obama campaign says Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, would turn into a private voucher system in his proposed federal budget.

Obama's plan, Romney said, "would raise the debt to $20 trillion over the next four years....I will take us on a different path, a path to a balanced budget."

"Obamacare" - the president's health care reform law - will be overturned if he is elected over President Obama, Romney said.

"We are going to get government out of it and give you the freedom you always had,'' Romney said, to a huge cheer from the crowd.

Obama, Romney said, has pursued "a status quo" path that has "seen family income go down an average of $4,300 over the past four years."

The Obama campaign, the GOP candidate said, "doesn't have a plan. The Obama campaign is slipping. It is talking about small things. You know we can't afford four more years like the last four years. If you want real big change, in this country, vote for the Romney-Ryan ticket."

Almost immediately after Romney's half hour speech, the Obama campaign responded, issuing a statement saying that Romney's Cincinnati visit "was just another attempt to try and convince Ohio workers that he stands by their side and will stand up to China, when in fact it is just the opposite."

"It's no wonder that Mitt Romney's tax plan - including his support for eliminating taxes on American companies' foreign incomes - would create 800,000 jobs in other countries,'' said Obama's Ohio press secretary, Jessica Kershaw. "Those jobs are likely to come at the expense of American workers in cities like Cincinnati, and that's why the people of Ohio will not be supporting Mitt Romney this November."

Most polls have been showing a dead heat in Ohio, but a CNN/Time poll released Thursday morning gave Obama a five percentage point lead in Ohio.

Romney campaign spokesman Chris Maloney told WVXU he considers Ohio to be "tight as a tick" and that the momentum is still moving in the Romney campaign's direction.

Some polling shows Romney closing the gender gap between he and Obama among women voters; and that is why it was no accident that three women who are executives of small Cincinnati area businesses were among those who introduced Romney to the crowd.

Sen. Rob Portman - who was considered by Romney as a running mate - introduced Romney to the crowd, and urged the people there to "after this is over, let's get in our cars and go down to Broadway (where the Hamilton County Board of Elections is located) and cast our ballots early."

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.
Howard Wilkinson is in his 50th year of covering politics on the local, state and national levels.