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TAMPA, FL -- Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney reined in his criticism of President Barack Obama on Wednesday, signaling a softer tone at the outset of a three-stop swing through Florida coinciding with the president's trip to New Jersey to survey hurricane damage.
Returning to the campaign trail after cancelling several campaign events out of respect to victims of Hurricane Sandy, Romney joined several prominent Florida Republicans in blending a pitch for storm recovery support with more traditional political fanfare.
In his first formal campaign event (Romney morphed one planned stop in Ohio into a "relief event" on Tuesday), Romney struck hopeful notes.
"You should know I could not be in this race if I were not an optimist. I believe in the future of this country I know we have huge challenges, but I’m not frightened by them, I’m invigorated by the challenge," Romney told supporters gathered in an airplane hangar here near the close of his remarks. "We’re going to take on these challenges we’re going to overcome them!"
As the storm cleanup begins, the Republican presidential candidate is facing questions about his position on the federal government's role in disaster relief. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
And Romney included an entreaty for donations to the Red Cross as the East Coast reels from the impact of the hurricane earlier this week. (Romney himself made a donation to the Red Cross, an aide told NBC News.)
"If you have an extra dollar or two, send them along and keep the people who are in harms – who have been in harms way, who’ve been damaged either personally or through their property, keep them in your thoughts and prayers," Romney said. "We love all of our fellow citizens. We come together in times like this and we want to make sure that they have a speedy and quick recovery from their financial and in many cases, personal loss."
Romney was joined on the trail by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the latter of whom noted that Floridians are more familiar with hurricanes than most of the nation, and urged the roughly 2,000 attendees here to pay back the generosity they have experienced after past storms.
At a campaign event in Tampa Bay, Florida, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney promotes a five-point plan for growing the economy.
"People are going to be living with the aftermath of the storm, and so our hearts and our prayers go out to them, and also our help," Rubio said. "If you see on the screen the number you can text the Red Cross and make your donation. We have been the beneficiary of these donations in the past. Let's make sure we pay it forward for our neighbors and fellow Americans up north who are suffering."
Bush, who had to handle numerous hurricanes during his time as governor, also waded into the politics of disaster relief, suggesting that local governments contributed more to recovery efforts than the federal government.
"My experience in all this emergency response business is that it is the local level and the state level that really matters," he said to applause. "That if they do their job right the federal government part works out pretty good."
Brian Snyder / Reuters
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney greets audience members at a campaign rally in Tampa, Florida October 31, 2012.
But today's event was certainly a return to the issues that have driven the campaign for the last year -- with Romney criticizing the president's stewardship of the economy indirectly, and offering his own plan in contrast.
“My view is pretty straight forward and that is I believe that this is time for America to take a different course, that this should be a turning point for our country, and I say that because I look at where we are and with 23 million Americans – you think about that. These are real people. These are folks trying to put food on the table," Romney said. "Twenty-three million people struggling to find a good job. This is something that requires in my view a different path than we’ve been on."
Reuters, Getty Images
In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.
Leave a Comment:
Note to interviewers: "Please don't use terms like "Some Democrats I spoke with" or "Some Republicans I spoke with" or "There is a feeling out there" or "Some people are saying" - "the race is too close to call."
For one thing the very same people you spoke with called me and said rumor has it you are going to be reassigned and your new job is doing the local weather in Fairbanks.
I treat every straw man reference as a lie.
Fox News does that constantly. Every interview has some questions that begin with "some people are saying...". It gives them plausible deniability to point out they THEY are not saying it, it's "some people".
They also phrase a lot of unsubstantiated conspiracy theories as questions, so they can say "we're not saying it's true, we're just asking questions." Glenn Beck does a lot of that too.
When Romney wins the presidency, there will be riots! Liberals will do anything, including violence to reverse the results. The liberal way.
That's just nonsense.
That's funny. On another blog this morning the same was said about Republicans. I laughed because how many Tea Party people caused property damage and how much property did the occupy WS cause? Stupid liberals.
So by that it looks like violence no matter who wins.
dreel--What parallel universe do you live in anyway? You need to go back on your meds.
The Redcoats tried that around 1780, and got thier butts whipped!
"We come together in times like this and we want to make sure that they have a speedy and quick recovery from their financial and in many cases, personal loss."
Did anyone else notice that the first concern Romney had was the financial losses of these people? It's not "in many cases, personal loss", it's personal loss in all cases. I'm sure the last thing these people are thinking about is how much their finances have suffered. Romney can only think in terms of money. We don't need him to run (ruin) our country. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that is trying to recover from the devastation of this storm.
Have you ever been accused of splitting hairs by people close to you?
Actually Donna a lot of those people probably are thinking about finances ! They are probably grateful to still be alive and they are trying to figure out how they will afford to rebuild and they will need to think about finances in order to do that
Feisty Redhead; Alaska Girl and Gurudev; President Obama has been in campaign mode since he got elected!! I do really hope that he is out there in NJ to help all those people that were affected by the storm and not out there for photo ops!!! Those people deserve better... As well as should the President let us know what the HECK happened in Benghazi!! President Obama FAILED big time!!! To let our own DIE when they were asking for help is UNACCEPTABLE!! Time to get UNITED and VOTE for ROMNEY...
Wow! Only six more days and we won't have to listen to this lying fool any more. Go back to whatever state you call home. Obama Biden 2012.
ROMNEY LANDSLIDE: Look at the independents. +10.3% for Romney. Obama in big trouble. He will lose .
Look at the battleground states. How is Romney going to get 269?
Bro, we count everybody, not just the independents.
Romney eases back into politicking at first post-hurricane rally
By NBC's Garrett Haake
Omg! That's to funny Mr. Haake. I hope your not a New Yorker. He never stoped politicking as you framed it. There was a video of him bashing the president. Didn't you see the big screen above Romney as he stood in front of the table, filled with Walmart goods? Yes Walmart. More like slavemart and where the goods are cheap and mostly shipped here frommmmm, yes, China!
Mitt doesn't have a clue about Real People, does the 47% sound familiar. He will say anything to get in the White House, he thinks he and Ann is entitled - NOT!!!!
Romney may not be "entitled", but he sure is MORE QUALIFIED. . .
On 11/6/2012, America will order Barack Obama to STAND DOWN!
When Barack Obama calls on America on 11/6/2012, he will get DENIED!
"Stand Down"? "Denied"? What is it with you and this awkward, arch language? Hyper-military maybe? You sure don't talk like a normal person. More like a Romneybot Jr.
sonmanvb: More qualified to what? Bankrupt the country and send us all to China? That was his big trick at Bain. Buy up businesses, bleed them dry, put people out of work, get filthy rich. That doesn't qualify you to be anything, other than a vulture capitalist.
Lie about and/or fudge on your taxes? That qualifies you for a cell.
Have contempt for nearly half the country? That qualifies you to be an elitist snob plutocrat.
Being unwilling to stand up to Rush Limbaugh, Donald Trump, Ted Nugent, Todd Akin or Richard Mourdock? That qualifies you to be both spineless and gutless.
Dodging the draft? That qualifies you to be a coward.
Lying every time he opens his mouth? That qualifies you to be disbelieved.
Don't anything presidential here. Romney isn't qualified to be Village Idiot.
Michelle Obama: “Dig a little deeper”…for our campaign!
While her hubby flies around the Hurricane Sandy disaster zone in South Jersey to look presidential and leader-like on the taxpayer’s dime, the missus is getting busy urging supporters to “dig a little deeper” and donate money…to the campaign.
Michelle –
Mean while, Romney is asking supporters to donate to the Red Cross instead of his campaign.
On 11/6/2012, America will order Barack Obama to STAND DOWN!
When Barack Obama calls on America on 11/6/2012, he will get DENIED!
"Stand Down"? "Denied"? What is it with you and this awkward, arch language? Hyper-military maybe? You sure don't talk like a normal person. More like a Romneybot Jr.
OMG I'm starting to suffer from RomneyNausea which has been caused by so much of the Romnesia going around. For the people that think FEMA is unnecessary let me tell you what is like when everything around has been destroyed and you can't get help or word to your family that you're OK. I hope you NEVER have to go through a natural disaster, especially if Romney gets elected and dismantle's FEMA. We Floridians remember Andrew in 1992 and Katrina and Wilma etc... Honestly, do you really want a man who blatantly lies, gets caught and continues to lie and lie some more? Obama's not perfect but I'd rather have him in power that someone who doesn't know what he believes in from one minute to another. Gotta say there are a lot of similarities between Romney and Nixon and I believe both were endorsed by the same newspaper.
So then you probably remember how after Katrina Obama said to the people in New Orleans "the federal government hates you because you're black"? Yep, them words came right out of "Mr. Hope and Changes" own mouth. Hard to deny it when those pesky videos come back to bite.
Really? Where does Obama say that?
"What “steams me up,” Obama said, was that the Bush administration had waived a law after Hurricane Andrew in Florida and the Sept. 11 attacks that required local authorities to match federal aid—but did not do so after Katrina. “Somehow the people down in New Orleans, they don’t care about as much,” Obama said."
bagdadjoe--Quit lying. President Obama didn't say any such thing, and you know it. Actually (and if you had done some basic research, you would know it too), it was Kanye West who said "George Bush doesn't like black people". He said that on a telethon nationally televised on NBC a few days after Katrina. It would be ever so nice if you RWNJ's actually paid attention to facts once in a while. It would be a new experience for you, too.
The next disaster Obama will be reviewing will be his loss on November 6.
.....any word on how Barack is dealing with his case of "Obamentia"? He's been delusional for the last 4 years...thinks he's been leading the country. I understand he contracted it through some barackteria that he came in contact with in the john.
im so enjoying watching the final days of president obozo and his administration. the history books will be replete with the policy blunders, failed ideas and catchy slogans of this pc experiment gone horribly wrong. hopefully the next generation will realize you cant elect a president based on skin color and not consider experience or character.
You think the Irish voted for O'Bama because of his skin color? Oooohhhhhh, I guess you're refering to the 90%+ of black voters? Even they may have learned from this one.
Anyone else ever notice that the Obama lovers are here every day, morning noon and night? GET A JOB!!!! Oh wait, if you did that you couldn't collect your welfare and food stamps that all of us pay for.
By that theory you must also be a President Obama supporter being here every day to notice.
dreel
When Romney wins the presidency, there will be riots! Liberals will do anything, including violence to reverse the results. The liberal way.
!
#80 - Wed Oct 31, 2012 3:39 PM EDT
So it makes sense now. It was liberals that shot out the windows of an Obama campaign office. And Romney hasn't even won which lie to say next. Geesss, hug a redneck day or what.
/lesigh
Anyone else ever notice that the Obama lovers are here every day, morning noon and night? GET A JOB!!!! Oh wait, if you did that you couldn't collect your welfare and food stamps that all of us pay for.
Got a job. I keep the fools from getting to you, fool!
You are here. Why don't you go to work? Why do you even have a computer because you sure have not used it to become better informed?
Libs and Obama sicko fans are in a meltdown mode. Latest has Roms's up by 6 and ahead in early voting. My o My....
Not all of us a$$hole. Some of us own manufacturing companies. I am proud to be in the 47% that your type hates so much.
Good luck in hell.
Latest Fox News in-house poll?
Dream on.
Andy from the Steeler Nation
Nope, CBS/Ny Times and Gallup to name a few. Notice its not reported here on MSNBC, wonder why?
I know you dont think NY Times is pro-Romney now do you?
Florida Legitimate Rapists for Romney / Ryan!
Hey, it's God's will............. thanks Mitt!
Boo Yah!
Maybe I like rednecks like yourself to tell me I should go to work? I make enough to buy you whatever you missed in your childhood or maybe lend you somedays to visit a church!
Well, well, well... While President Obama is acting, well, presidential, and looking out for and caring for those who were so deeply impacted by Sandy, what is good ol' Mitt Romney doing? Looking out for himself, of course! What else? He couldn't act presidential if he had 30 days' notice.
I notice Mitt placed an TV ad in which he flat-out lied. He claimed Jeep was moving operations to China. He was called out on this lie by Chrysler Corporation itself. Then he doubled down on his lie by refusing to recant. Finally he tripled down on the same lie by running the ad on radio. There is absolutely no end to his lying, obfuscating, and/or perverting the truth. I do believe that after he says his name, everything that comes out of Mitt's mouth is a lie. And don't get me started on Ryan!!
i blame the press on this one. they allow lies to go unchallenged... they allow him not to answer questions about fema..rape...bailouts..taxes... it doesnt seem to matter... they just stand there with their cameras and microphones and just let him ignore them or treat them like idiot children. they should have turned their backs on him yesterday when he refused to answer any questions he didnt think would make him look good. they should have refused to send in pictures of him "lending a hand". and they should have called his tacky rally what it was. but they didnt because they have no spine. the press has failed us all.. for the entire year. for the entire campaign. just like they failed to lay blame on the congress for screwing with the economy. and if the neo cons and the norquist crew and the women dominators win the press wont say or print a word. they will go along. because they are chicken. and just think if mrs. oboma had said what ann romney said during the debates. are we really going to have a foul mouthed first lady who calls anyone who isnt in her crowd "you people" . they are quite a couple. and if we have to look at them and listen to them and their horrible children for four years i think it will drive us all to the brink of bitterness and shame.
We feel the same way about Benghazi. THe difference? 4 people were denied help form the WH and died. I bet you $16T that Biden was the one who made the call.
allison it does not matter to his supporters and they are the ones who count. They have seen it all and they are still determined to vote for Romney.
prog.1
Yes because the Obama agenda has been sooooo well for this country, Matter of fact its been so good, that when he ran in 2007 he flapped his gums alot and told people to go to his website for more detailed answers. Well if you went there......nothing. Now he wants to be re-elected and again other then his flapping gums he has NOTHING....
Hats off to him, at least he is consistent....
kamo have you ever considered legitimately raping a woman?
prog.1
Really.....PROG1, you have to steep that low to try and make apoint that is only known to you?
What kind of sick a$$ person would even ask such a question.....
If I were in Romney's face I would ask him how concerned he is with the plight of the 200 American workers whose jobs are right now being sent to China by his Bain group in Freeburg, IL. Has he figured out how to overcome the challenge they and that town are facing? Has he any compassion for the fact that they were forced to train the Chinese who were going to take their jobs home with them? Does he intend to reach into his deep, deep pockets to find some disaster relief for them? He owns a big financial stake through Bain in the company that is being moved to China. He is going to make money out of it. And the company is non-union and very profitable. The only reason to move those jobs to China was the greed to make even bigger profits at the expense of those loyal American workers who built that company for years.
Those poor workers have asked him to do something about their jobs, but he has ignored them. He should be ashamed, but we have seen how shamelessly he shifts his political shape to fit any audience at any time in any place, so I guess he isn't ashamed to call himself a "job creator" even when he is anything but. They are "real people" too Mr. Romney. Why are you ignoring them?
demo scout
Ummm, companies dont call in companies like Bain or similar unless they are already in big trouble.
Companies like Bain can either help they company survive so the employees and all the other proplr who are owed money by that company can get paid. If they cant save it then they have to sell it off so all the other people waiting to get paid that provided goods or services to the company in trouble can get paid.
Not sure why Libs can figure it out analytically.
Tell that to the employees in that Illinois Plant. Making a profit while Bain is closing it and sending the company to China. Putting the American workers on the street. Out sourcing american jobs to India and China was how Romney made his multi-millions when he was in charge at Bain.
deb-3232690
I see, so The US Governments own rational to bail out GM was to save all the feeder companies that go into that particular industry. Hence the domino effect of ying and yang would be avoided for companies that supply goods and services to GM. And to not bailout GM, would cause harm to the whole banking system and small business that could not pay back the banks for the line of credit they needed to service GM pay their own bills and own employees and all the spin off companies that relied on them.
So Bain or similar companies do the same thing. The difference Bain uses their OWN money to try and salvage off THE SAME dire situation.
God sent a hurricane to disrupt the republican convention and now God has se3nt this great storm to give the voters one last chance to see the difference between the do-nothing every man for himself Romney and the caring compassionate Pres. Obama. You republicans need to pay attention to your God.
YOu mean the God that the Dems attempted to delete from the Democratic platform? That God?
Yes, Bro, the God that many people understand has no place in politics.
jock59801
Really....God Bless America is not part of the US and politics. UMM, someone better tell Obama that....
BTW-God was reinserted back into the platform because the MAJORITY of the Dems believed it to be there too.
Your God sounds mean and hateful. The God of my understanding loves all His children and would never bring down utter devistation on innocent people, innocent children, even you.
suemac: Is your God Obama?
Don't Tase Me Bro!
Suemac47 God cant be Obama. Did you see the "loves all His children and would never bring down utter devistation on innocent people." Clearly that is not Obama polices...
/lesigh--If you weren't here morning, noon and night, how would you know? Maybe YOU should get a job and stop collecting welfare and food stamps.
By the way, I am an Obama supporter. I am on here, usually in the afternoon. I have a job. I don't collect welfare and I am not on food stamps. Puts the lie to your idea. But, then, lying is you RWNJ's strong suit, isn't it? Look whom you have put up for office! Mitt the Prevaricator and Lyin' Ryan! What a team!
Here we go again. How many more lies can he tell before the end of the day?
Someone should have bet Romney $10,000 that his $5,000 is not enough ...... to save him!
Marginalized.
Yes much better for the First Lady last night to send out emails and ask in public for Dems to give $5.00 or more to the Obama campaign. At the min., Romney has asked his supporters to donate to the Red Cross and NOT his campaign. Clear difference between the two side dont you think?
Vote your choice, it's America. See you republicans and democrats at the coffee shop after the election.
President Obama--2012
Romney flips again. After failing to answer reporter's questions on FEMA for two days, he now announces that as Pres he would keep FEMA funding....completely at odds with his announced position in the primary and against the defunding in the Ryan budget. The man has no shame at all and will say anything to get elected.
woodbutcher
News Flash, he never said he would rid FEMA. I guess when you read or watch cropped versions I see how you can get bum info. What you should ask yourself is why did that provider give you a cropped version? Answer that only comes to mind is that they think their viewership or readership is dumb...
Mitt Romney was asked, in the context of the Joplin disaster and FEMA's cash crunch, whether the agency should be shuttered so that states can individually take over responsibility for disaster response.
"Absolutely," he said. "Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that's even better. Instead of thinking, in the federal budget, what we should cut, we should ask the opposite question, what should we keep?"
"Including disaster relief, though?" debate moderator John King asked Romney.
"We cannot -- we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids," Romney replied. "It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/28/mitt-romney-fema_n_2036198.html
You're surprised he'd flip and flop. What ELSE does he do? This begs the question yet again: when was Romney lying, in the primaries or now? One way or another, he is a liar.
Re-Elect Obama 2012
Ummm, so a man running for the office is not allowed to evolve or tweak, yet the man who actually is in the office is......FEMA is $$ nothing more. You cant really think that if we stream lined FEMA and gave the states much less burden which results in higher cost is a bad thing vs letting the people in need get that extra cash?
FEMA's Mitigation Directorate is responsible for programs that take action before a disaster, in order to identify risks and reduce injuries, loss of property, and recovery time. The agency has major analysis programs for floods, hurricanes, dams, and earthquakes.
FEMA works to ensure affordable flood insurance is available to homeowners in flood plains, through the National Flood Insurance Program, and also works to enforce no-build zones in known flood plains and relocate or elevate some at-risk structures
Pre-Disaster Mitigation grants are available to acquire property for conversion to open space, retrofit existing buildings, construct tornado and storm shelters, manage vegetation for erosion and fire control, and small flood control projects.
NDMS is made of teams that provide medical and allied care to disaster victims. These teams include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc., and are typically sponsored by hospitals, public safety agencies or private organizations. Also, Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) teams, composed of officers of the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service, were developed to assist with the NDMS.
The Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces perform rescue of victims from structural collapses, confined spaces, and other disasters, for example mine collapses and earthquakes.
Mobile Emergency Response Support (MERS) vehicle teams provide communications support to local public safety. For instance, they may operate a truck with satellite uplink, computers, telephone and power generation at a staging area near a disaster so that the responders can communicate with the outside world.
On August 1, 2008, FEMA had released "Planning Guidance for Protection and Recovery Following Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) and Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) incidents" which indicate action guide in case of radiation contamination.
FEMA offers a large number of training classes, either at its own centers, through programs at the state level, in cooperation with colleges and universities, or online.
FEMA has led a Public-Private Partnership in creating a National Donations Management Program making it easier for corporations or individuals not previously engaged to make offers of free assistance to States and the Federal Government in times of disaster.