WAUKESHA, Wis. – Mitt Romney and his new running mate Paul Ryan wrapped up the second day of their campaign with an emotional return to Ryan’s home state of Wisconsin, where for the third time Sunday massive crowds gathered to greet the new Republican ticket.
The event also seemed to mark a turning point in the campaign for Romney, who has been the subject of negative attacks from a super PAC supporting President Obama. He told the crowd Obama, in his quest for a second term, “is going to do everything in his power to make this the lowest, meanest campaign in history” and called on the president to raise his campaign “out of the gutter.”
The rally started with a teary-eyed Ryan greeting the crowd. After a shout out to his mother, Ryan talked about his love for his native Wisconsin.
“My veins run with cheese, bratwurst and a little Spotted Cow, Leines and Miller,” Ryan said to cheers. “I was raised on the Packers, Badgers, Bucks and Brewers. I like to hunt here, fish here, snowmobile here, and I even think ice fishing is interesting.”
Romney aides estimated the crowd in and around the The Waukesha Expo Center, east of Milwaukee, at 10,000.
After spending two days together introducing Ryan as the second half of the Republican ticket, Romney and Ryan took separate planes Sunday night, with Romney headed to Florida and Ryan to Iowa for a visit to the state fair on Monday.
