Obama attacked Romney before 6,000 swing state voters, using many of the same attacks he made in this week’s presidential debate.
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking at a campaign stop, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, in Manchester, N.H.More politics news
Energetic Barack Obama, charismatic Mitt Romney mix it up with words and body language in town hall style Hofstra presidential debate
: Mitt Romney would love another debate like the last one. President Barack Obama most certainly would not.
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Democratic President Barack Obama took an aggressive line against Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney at a New Hampshire rally on Thursday, incorporating many of the same attacks he made in this week’s presidential debate into his pitch to swing state voters.
Speaking to a crowd of 6,000 under sunny skies at Veteran’s Memorial Park, with 19 days left before the election, Obama attacked Romney’s economic and social policies.
“He’s got a tax plan that doesn’t add up, he’s got a jobs plan that doesn’t create jobs, he’s got a deficit plan that doesn’t reduce the deficit,” Obama charged.
Romney spokesman Ryan Williams responded that Obama offered Granite State voters “more misleading attacks to distract from his failed record, his reckless spending and his inability to present a discernible vision to move our country forward.”
“The President is out of new ideas, out of time and out of excuses to explain his failed leadership and broken promises,” Williams said. “Mitt Romney has a real plan to create 12 million jobs, and as president he will work with members of both parties to cut spending, restore our AAA credit rating, and get our economy growing again.”
On tax policy, Romney has laid out principles of his tax plan – lowering taxes for the middle class, keeping taxes the same for high-income taxpayers and eliminating deductions and exemptions so the plan will not raise the deficit. But he has not said which deductions he would eliminate, something Obama has criticized him for.
“On Tuesday, Governor Romney took another stab at trying to sell us this $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthy. He took another swing at it and he whiffed,” Obama said at the rally. “Instead of telling us how he’d pay for it, he said I’ll let you know after the election….Now I’m going to let you in on a little tip. When a politician tells you he’s going to wait until after the election, it’s not because their plan is so good that they don’t want to spoil the secret.”
(Independent fact checkers have said Romney is not actually proposing a $5 trillion tax cut, since he would also reduce deductions.)
Obama also criticized Romney’s jobs plan, which Romney says would create 12 million jobs in four years through a mix of tax reform and energy independence. Obama referred to a Washington Post fact-check that disputed Romney’s numbers. “When folks started crunching the numbers, his jobs plan fell apart faster than his tax plan,” Obama said.
“Mitt Romney’s trying to sell you a sketchy deal,” Obama said.
Speaking before Obama, Democratic New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen referred to Romney’s comment in the debate that when he was looking to staff his cabinet as Massachusetts governor, women’s groups brought him “binders full of women.” “(Obama) doesn’t need a binder to appoint women,” Shaheen said, pointing to Obama’s appointment of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.
Obama referred to Romney’s comments while speaking about education and the need for boys and girls to excel in math, science and engineering. “We don’t have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women who can learn and excel in these fields right now,” Obama said.
While Republicans frequently criticize Obama’s Affordable Care Act for putting more control over health care into the hands of Washington, Obama tried to rebut that criticism, focusing on a debate over Obama’s mandate that insurers cover contraception with no co-pay. Religious groups have opposed the mandate, and Republicans have criticized Obama for infringing on religious freedom. Obama said the Republicans would give employers and insurers the chance to deny coverage to individuals. “Do you think your boss or your insurance company or some politician in Concord or Washington should get control of your health care choices?” Obama said. “The health care law we passed puts those choices in your hands, where they belong.”
Before a cheering audience, Obama touted his work passing health care form, increasing investment in renewable energy, rescuing the U.S. auto industry, repealing the ban on openly gay people serving in the military and cutting taxes for the middle class.
With the next debate on Monday set to focus on foreign policy, Obama offered few specifics, but said he believes ending the war in Iraq and winding down the war in Afghanistan were the right things to do. He committed to sustaining a strong military and helping veterans.
Before the rally, Romney spokesman Tommy Schultz sent out a statement arguing that Obama has “failed the Granite State.” Though the New Hampshire unemployment rate has remained below the national average, the Romney campaign noted that it rose from 5.2 percent when Obama took office to 5.7 percent in September 2012, while median income has declined and the number of people on food stamps has increased. (The Obama campaign counters that Obama took office during a recession and has presided over its recovery.)
Both Obama and Romney have made numerous appearances in New Hampshire, a swing state with four electoral votes. This is Obama’s fifth visit this year. A WMUR Granite State poll released Oct. 9 by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found Obama leading Romney by six points, 47 percent to 41 percent – though 18 percent of voters said they could still be persuaded to change their minds. A 7News/Suffolk University poll released Oct. 15 found Obama and Romney tied.
Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said Republicans have had an advantage in enthusiasm in New Hampshire and nationally. “They’re mad and going to vote,” Smith said. Smith said the challenge for Democrats is energizing Democrats who have been hurt by the economy, and young people who are not supporting Obama with the same enthusiasm as in 2008. Rallies like Thursday’s could help with that goal.
“Turnout is going to be the key here,” Smith said. “Both parties have to make sure those voters are energized and get to the polls.”
Cheryl Beaudry, a farmer from Hollis and Democrat who attended the rally, said she supports Obama because of his health care overhaul. Beaudry said her husband cannot retire because he relies on his employer to pay half the couple’s health insurance costs – and she believes Obama’s reform is a step in the right direction. Beaudry said she came to the rally “just to be reenergized.” “It’s historic to be able to see a president,” she said.
David Bump, a Democrat who works in a restaurant and came from Billerica, also supports Obama for health care-related reasons. “My parents are close to Medicare. I have a little girl at home, who I want to have the right to do whatever she wants,” Bump said. Bump dislikes Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program, and he agrees with Obama’s support for abortion rights and mandatory insurance coverage for contraception.