At an annual gathering of conservatives in Washington, D.C., Republican all-stars Marco Rubio, Rob Portman and Jim DeMint criticized President Barack Obama’s mishandling of the economy on Thursday.
At the 2012 Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference the GOP Senators hammered President Obama for claiming that the private sector of the economy is “doing fine” and reminded attendees that America’s economic crisis has greatly worsened as a result of massive spending by the Obama Administration.
Portman remarked that if President Obama truly thinks the private sector was “fine,” then “he needs to get out more.”
Rubio focused on the importance of restoring America’s greatness, noting that, “All over the world because they have followed our example, millions of people who just a decade ago lived in poverty, are now part of the middle class.”
Likewise, DeMint expressed a need for the Republican Party to coalesce behind GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney in order to protect the freedoms Americans cherish so dearly. DeMint highlighted the Tea Party’s victories in the 2010 elections and expressed confidence in Republicans’ ability to win the White House and the Senate in 2012.
“If we can get a conservative majority in the Senate, and if we can remove this president who is there now and replace him with Mitt Romney, I’m convinced that we have the mandate for the American people to balance our budget, to stop spending more than we are bringing in, and to restore the freedom to have the values that we want,” he said.
Both Rubio and Portman have been the subject of intense speculation as potential running mates for Mitt Romney. However, neither Rubio nor Portman gave any mention to the prospect of being the GOP vice presidential nominee.
Today, Governor Romney spoke in Portman’s home state of Ohio as he and President Obama, who was also in Ohio to campaign today, fought over the national spotlight. Tomorrow, Romney will address the Faith and Freedom Conference via telecast from a campaign event as he kicks off his “Every Town Counts” five day bus tour.
