DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and
running-mate Paul Ryan revved up the crowd of thousands who gathered at the
Daytona Beach Bandshell on Friday night to see the pair as they barnstorm the
Sunshine State ahead of Monday's final presidential debate.
The rally coincided with 'Biktoberfest' and brought out many Harley Davidson-clad bikers; not your typical Romney crowd, but they were high energy and raucously supportive.
"Have you been listening to the Obama camp lately? They have no agenda for the future, no agenda for America, no agenda for the second term. Good thing they won't have a second term," Romney said, speaking in front of a giant, faux castle. "They've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games, just watch it. The Obama campaign has become the incredible shrinking campaign."
The rally coincided with 'Biktoberfest' and brought out many Harley Davidson-clad bikers; not your typical Romney crowd, but they were high energy and raucously supportive.
"Have you been listening to the Obama camp lately? They have no agenda for the future, no agenda for America, no agenda for the second term. Good thing they won't have a second term," Romney said, speaking in front of a giant, faux castle. "They've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games, just watch it. The Obama campaign has become the incredible shrinking campaign."
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Earlier in the day, President Obama held a rally in Virginia where he referred to his opponent as suffering from "Romnesia" because he recently apparently forgot about the tax cut proposal he was running on, which Obama says favors the wealthy.
Romney pounded the president on the economy during his 10-minute speech, asking rally-goers if they want four more years of shrinking take home pay, upside-down mortgages, and unemployed college graduates.
"How about this, are you ready for four very different years? We can endure 18 more days of the agenda of President Obama, but we cannot endure four more years, that's why we're going to replace him," Romney said. "He has nothing new, he says we're going to go 'forward;' forewarned is a better term."
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Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan introduced Romney, making a few references to the biker-heavy crowd, but also stuck to the economic issues.
"At a time when America has a jobs crisis, wouldn't it be a good thing to have a job creator in the White House?" Ryan asked.
Earlier in the day, it was Vice President Joe Biden firing up Florida voters in Fort Pierce. Hundreds of Obama supporters were packed into a small school gymnasium to hear Biden, who focused his remarks on issues of women's health and equal pay, as well as knocking both Romney and Ryan.
Biden said voters should support the president to "ensure that our daughters and our grand-daughters have the exact same opportunity as our sons and our grandsons."
The vice president also doubled-down on Obama's "Romnesia" comment, claiming that it must be contagious.
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"It's contagious, because all of a sudden, Paul Ryan, the mighty hawk, the guy who introduced a whole bunch of budget cuts that already passed the House of Representatives, all of a sudden, he doesn't remember it," Biden said. "He doesn't remember if it cuts a bunch of programs to ordinary people. He says, 'it doesn't cut, it just slows growth.'"
Building on a critique Obama offered on Romney's tax proposal, which would lower taxes by eliminating certain deductions not yet enumerated, Biden added, "I'm reluctant to correct the president, but they aren't sketchy, they are etch-a-sketchy."
Florida is a critical battleground state for both campaigns, with 29 electoral votes at stake. It takes 270 votes to win the White House. Recent polls have Romney edging out Obama with likely voters, but as with other states, the final story will be which side better mobilizes and turns out their voters. That's why it's no surprise both sides have gotten sharper with their critiques and are offering up a little more red meat at their rallies in order to build enthusiasm. Early voting in Florida has already begun.
Obama and Romney will meet in Boca Raton on Monday night for their third and final debate at Lynn University, which will focus on foreign policy.
