The race for president returned Wednesday to the Roanoke Valley, where
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan appeared at Northwest True
Value Hardware to make the case that he and ticket mate Mitt Romney can rev up
a moribund economy with business-friendly policies.
Speaking to a crowd of 1,350 supporters at the Brambleton Avenue store in
Roanoke County, Ryan cast the election as a choice between an "opportunity
society" -- as represented by the Republican ticket -- or a "welfare state and
debt crisis" as represented by incumbent President Barack Obama.
"This is President Obama's imaginary recovery," Ryan said. "It's not
here. We have a mountain of uncertainty that is plaguing small businesses. And
we have a person, in Mitt Romney, who knows through experience the challenges
that businesses face, how jobs creation works -- that the engine of
opportunity, the nucleus of our economy is not the government, but the success
of small businesses, the entrepreneurs, the people of this country. That's
what makes the American dream spread and grow for everybody."
Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, said the country has suffered from 42
straight months with an unemployment rate higher than 8 percent, with 23
million people out of work.
But Ryan argued that he and Romney can get the country back on track with
a foundation of the "principles that built this country: liberty, freedom,
free enterprise, self-determination, government by consent of the governed,
not by consent of some bureaucrat in Washington."
"Of all the times in our history when leadership is so necessary,
leadership that is in keeping with our country's founding, our country's
principles, it is now," Ryan said. "That's why we need to elect someone who is
that kind of bold, principled leader. That's what Mitt Romney is."
Ryan laid out a number of proposals -- a "Romney-Ryan plan" -- he said
would help turn around the economy and create 12 million jobs in four years:
Using more of America's energy resources, including coal, oil, natural gas and
nuclear sources; re-educating workers with new skills to find different jobs
in the new economy; boosting the manufacturing sector by renegotiating fair
trade deals with other countries; lowering tax rates; and restructuring the
country's budget to cut deficits and reduce the national debt.
As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan authored a budget plan
aimed at reducing debt largely by restructuring Medicare and other entitlement
programs.
"This is a debate that we want," Ryan said. "This is a debate that we're
going to win."
Obama and Democrats have attacked that plan, largely because it calls for
creating an alternative to the Medicare program that would give future
retirees a fixed amount of money to purchase private health coverage. Ryan,
however, fired back, citing $716 billion in planned cuts to Medicare that are
scheduled to occur under the federal health care overhaul. Obama has said the
savings would be used for other health care costs, including preventive care
for senior citizens.
Ryan was introduced on stage by Chris McMurray, the Radford businessman
who owns Crumb & Get It Cookie Co. and rose to national attention last week
when he declined a request by Vice President Joe Biden's advance team to stage
a media appearance in his bakery.
"My wife Kelly and I are here representing thousands of small business
owners in America -- folks who know what it means to take risks, folks who
know how hard it is to make payroll, folks who work into the wee hours of the
night, miss their kids' soccer games," McMurray said. "And most of all, Kelly
and I represent thousands of small business owners who did build their
business!"
Ryan looked impressed, joking, "He just gave my speech. I'm voting for
that guy."
Ryan and McMurray delivered their speeches in front of a large American
flag flanked by Romney campaign signs that read, "We Did Build It!"
The signs -- which have become a cornerstone of the Romney campaign --
were a reference to a remark Obama made during a campaign speech in Roanoke
last month: "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else
made that happen."
Obama and at least three nonpartisan campaign fact-checking organizations
-- PolitiFact, FactCheck.org and the Washington Post's Fact Checker -- say the
"that" in the line was a reference to infrastructure. But Republicans have
seized on the line as evidence that Obama believes business success comes from
government assistance, not from hard work and individual initiative.
That was the interpretation that Ryan gave when he argued that Obama
"revealed himself just here in Roanoke not too long ago."
McMurray wasn't the only businessman at the event.
Rob Lindstrom of Alcova Mortgage Alleghany Highlands, which employs 124
people in Covington, said he attended the event hoping to hear Ryan talk about
small businesses and health care. Lindstrom said he's had to hire two new
people just to comply with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act, which added significant new regulations to the financial
services industry.
Roanoke businessman Robert Fralin said, "I think the sentiment's turning
to smaller government. I think it's what the founders intended when they
established the country."
Roanoke City Councilmen Bill Bestpitch and Sherman Lea, both Democrats,
were among about 20 people who stood outside the event with signs as part of a
MoveOn.org protest. Bestpitch said that Ryan's budget plan would eventually
raise the cost of health care for senior citizens, and Lea argued that Ryan is
"wrong for women" -- a phrase echoed on protesters' signs -- because of his
past support for anti-abortion measures, including some with no exceptions for
cases of rape-related pregnancies.
Ryan's visit is only the latest indication that Virginia has become one
of the hottest presidential battlegrounds in the country.
Besides Biden's swing through Southside Virginia and the New River Valley
last week, Obama held an event in Roanoke last month and Romney held an event
in Salem in late June. In addition, Obama is slated to appear in
Charlottesville next Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
