Romney greets NASCAR fans at RIR

Credit: DEAN HOFFMEYER/TIMES-DISPATCH

Republican Mitt Romney greeted a NASCAR fan as he arrived at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday.

By: WESLEY P. HESTER and ANDREW CAIN |Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: September 09, 2012

» 1 Comments | Post a Comment

RICHMOND, Va. --

After dishing out a healthy helping of political red meat during a speech in Virginia Beach, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney doled out some hot dogs at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night.

Following an early afternoon campaign stop at the Virginia Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, Romney flew to Richmond, stopping by the Federated Auto Parts 400 at RIR, arriving just as rain started to come down.

Romney's motorcade rolled through the infield tunnel and dropped him off at a tent in the garage, where he joined Republican U.S. Senate candidate George Allen and began handing out hot dogs to fans.

"Awesome. Speechless. I'll never wash my hand," said an excited Jennifer Carden of Prince George County, who shook hands with Romney and accepted a hot dog. "We just wished him good luck and told him that we would pray that he wins."

"He told me, 'Good job, Cub Scout,' " added Carden's 7-year-old son, Thomas.

After posing for photos, making small talk with fans and chatting with Virginia NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, the former Massachusetts governor signed a Romney-Ryan '12 car on display and paid a quick visit to NASCAR President Mike Helton.

As he walked back to his SUV in the rain after shaking hands with Helton, Romney was asked by a member of the media, "Who's your driver?"

Romney replied: "I've got a lot of drivers I like. Thanks."

Earlier in the day, Romney told a flag-waving crowd at the Virginia Aviation Museum that Virginia's voters have the power to change the nation's streak of anemic jobs reports.

"I know that this week has not been a week of a lot of good news," he said, commenting that job creation could not keep up with population growth and that for each new job that was created last month, four people dropped out of the workforce.

"So this was not the kind of news that the American people were hoping for and deserve," he said. "I'm here to tell you that things are going to get a lot better, but that's going to require you doing something important, and that's electing me the next president of the United States."

In Hampton Roads, a military stronghold, Romney also emphasized the importance of a strong Navy and Air Force. He said America must have a military so strong that no foe would consider testing it.

Romney said America is creating about nine ships a year and that he would increase it to 15 ships.

"It's time to have a rebuilding of our Navy to make sure it's the strongest in the world and it fulfills our missions," he said. "I will not cut our military. I will maintain our military commitment."

He also cited the automatic defense cuts — part of a process called "sequestration" — that will start to take effect early next year if the president and Congress cannot reach a deficit-reduction agreement.

"If I'm president of the United States, we'll get rid of those sequestration cuts and rebuild America's military might," he added.

Romney said that at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., the president failed to provide any specifics for how to improve the still-sputtering economy and put people back to work.

"He doesn't have a plan. He doesn't have any ideas," Romney said. "We've got to make sure he doesn't have any more days in the White House after January."

In Virginia Beach, Romney also pointedly said that he would not remove "God" from the Republican platform. In Charlotte, Democrats reportedly restored a reference to God in their platform after a 2008 passage that referred to "God-given potential" was removed.

Responding to Romney's remarks in Virginia Beach, Obama for America spokeswoman Lis Smith said it was "disappointing to see Mitt Romney try to throw a Hail Mary by launching extreme and untrue attacks against the president."

Smith also faulted Romney for "associating with some of the most strident and divisive voices in the Republican Party," specifically mentioning religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, who was on hand at the event in Virginia Beach.

"This isn't a recipe for making America stronger, it's a recipe for division and taking us backward," she said.

#News

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Romney greets NASCAR fans After dishing out a healthy helping of political red meat Saturday night

Related