Albion, Mich. — Mitt Romney received a hometown-hero’s welcome at a factory in south central Michigan, as he focused on President Obama in a speech before an audience that remembers Romney’s father, George, and trusts the son to fix the economy.
Romney gave hardly any attention to his Republican rivals, beyond an allusion to Santorum that still kept the economy front-and-center at this campaign speech. “My team is the people of the United States of America and I want to get the people working again,” he said, as he suggested that long-time Washington legislators could not fix the economy.
After Rep.Tim Walberg, R-Mich., introduced him as “a true Michiganian,” Romney took the stage to attack Obama for broken promises and the weak economy. “Let me borrow 787 billion and I’ll keep unemployment below 8 percent,” Romney characterized Obama as saying, noting that unemployment has exceeded 8 percent for 36 months.
Romney’s tactic of campaigning as Obama’s chief rival seemed to resonate with the crowd. “He’s the only one of them that’s running who’s going to be able to beat Obama,” said local jazz legend Benny Poole.
Poole supports Romney in large part because of good memories of Romney’s father, George. “I used to play music for [George Romney] in Lansing, Mich., at the Olds hotel,” Poole said. “He was one of the best governors” of Michigan, Poole added.
He expects Romney to replicate, at the national level, his father’s success in Michigan. “Mitt reminds me of his dad a lot in the way he goes about doing business,” Poole explained, noting also that Mitt — like George — is “real down to earth.”
