MANSFIELD — When presidential Republican candidate Mitt Romney rallied supporters at PR Machine Works in Mansfield on Monday, he responded to two subjects for which President Barrack Obama has been criticized. The facility was filled with more than 1,200 attendees with several hundred more listening outside and hoping that he would address them, too. They weren’t disappointed.
Romney responded to the president’s failure to express support for the Mansfield Air National Guard base this summer when he visited Mansfield, even though under his administration the base faces closure.
He expressed firm support of the military stating that if he were elected he would not make military cuts. Senator Rob Portman said he landed at Mansfield Lahm Airport with Romney and they spoke with Air Guard personnel.
“The people at the 179th are doing incredible things for our country,” Portman said. He praised their service overseas and the efficiency of the C-27.
“Folks,” Portman said, “the 179th is doing a terrific job for us. We need to make sure we’re standing with them. Unfortunately the president made the decision to end the mission of the 179th.” Portman said Romney plans to continue the mission.
The president has also been criticized for a remark he made in July in Roanoke, Va. stating, “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Romney’s campaign is using the comment to emphasize his commitment to small businesses.
Mansfield Mayor Timothy Theaker said that PR Machine Works was “the perfect site for Gov. Romney to visit” because it represents a small business that has succeeded and because so many other businesses have left.
“But we are working to make this better and we’ve been told our military base is closing. We will lose over 1,000 jobs if that happens,” Theaker said.
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