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Romney-Ryan Recovery Road Rally in Marietta
< < Back to romney-ryan-recovery-road-rally-mariettaA group of 1,500 Romney-Ryan supporters gathered in the Dyson Baudo Rec. Center at Marietta College to hear Paul Ryan speak on behalf of his running mate Mitt Romney.
With just days before the election, Ryan and other Romney supporters Lt. Governor Mary Taylor, State Treaurer Josh Mandel and State Representative Andy Thompson highlighted the deficit, the unemployed and the coal industry in the region.
Taylor said there are three reasons Romney and Ryan will win Ohio: a balanced state budget, reduced state taxes despite President Obama's economic failures and the participation of young voters in the election.
Throughout the campaign, Romney has been criticized for his position on women's rights, but Taylor told the crowd it is Obama who has hurt women during his administration.
"We have more women in poverty than the last 17 years. We have six million women unemployed and 400,000 of them have lost their jobs in the last four years. That is the war on women if you ask me."
Those women at the rally showed their support for the Romney and Ryan ticket despite the criticism.
Melissa Collins said she is looking for the deficit to be cut and not have it raised as Obama did. She encouraged women to vote for Romney.
"He is for us. He supports family values. He supports his wife in anything she does and he loves his kids. They are involved in everything he does," Collins said.
She said her biggest concern is about the economy because she is now unemployed.
"I'm on disability. I can't even pay my bills so I believe Mitt Romney will help people like me."
Before Ryan took the stage, Josh Mandel spoke about coal and other natural resources in the region.
"Coal, oil and natural gas are assets, not liabilities. Unfortunately, Obama has waged a war on natural resources which is resulting in Ohioans losing jobs."
Mandel explained the importance of coal to the region and how using such abundant resources can create stable job growth throughout Appalachia.
"I believe for the economic security and future of this country, we should be mining all the coal, oil and gas we can to keep people safe and men working," Mandel said.
Following Mandel's remarks, the crowd cheered as Paul Ryan and his family stepped on stage.
Both young and old waved signs as he spoke about the next three days leading up to election day.
"We are not just picking a president for four years, we are picking the trajectory of this country, the meaning of this country for ourselves and our kids at least for another generation. This is the kind of election it is."
Ryan Cahll, a senior at Marietta College attended the rally to confirm who he was voting for.
"I have a lot of faith in the election this year. Paul Ryan mentioned jobs for college graduates and the status of the economy. I want to to know I will have a job after I graduate because the economy is the number one issue right now," said Cahll.
Ryan focused on the state of the economy and said fifteen percent of Americans are living in poverty .
"The economy is limping along. It's growing at less than half the rate it would grow at if we only passed President Obama's vaunted stimulus plan when all the money would go to special interest groups," Ryan said.
Not everyone attending the rally was there to support Ryan.
Marietta resident, Dana Singer who joined the military in 2000 said he has been deployed to both Afghanistan and Iraq.
She said she believes nobody had any business fighting the two wars.
"We are looking to bring in a new presidency that is going to restrict my rights and my freedom," said Singer.
"it's a campaign not even listening to veterans and women and it's a campaign going against veterans so how do you say you are pro-American when you can't take care of the veterans you sent to fight these wars?"
Another apparent Obama supporter said Romney's campaign does not even consider women's rights.
Jane Tumas-Serna is a Marietta resident and lifetime feminist and activists since the 50's.
"In my opinion, women's rights are human rights. I am a feminist and activist and I can't believe they expect us to go back to the 1950's when we didn't have equal rights. It's scary. These people are scary," said Tumas Serna.
Ryan concluded his speech by encouraging the crowd to vote, even if they voted for President Obama in the last election because they can see what he failed to do.
"We can't afford to have four more years of this. We don't have to settle for this. Three more days. Just three more days. That's all we need," Ryan said.