By Jeremy Kelley, Dayton Daily News –
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Aware that jobs and the economy are key issues in the election, both presidential campaigns Wednesday pointed to jobs studies that they said bolstered their candidates.
And as always, Ohio was a focal point for their messages.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney focused on the economy during a campaign stop in Bowling Green, touting himself as much friendlier to small business than President Barack Obama and continuing to push his five-point economic plan.
Romney called attention to a report from the National Federation of Independent Business, which said that higher tax rates proposed for high-income individuals would result in “a smaller economy, fewer jobs, less investment and lower wages.” The study estimated that Obama’s proposed tax policies for high-income Americans would cost 710,000 jobs nationwide and 27,500 in Ohio “over the long run,” but did not specify what that time period was. Romney said the tax policies would especially hurt small business.
Meanwhile, Obama’s campaign released a report that said Ohio added 44,700 manufacturing jobs since the economic recovery began. Obama has frequently cited his support for the auto bailout as a key to the rebound of manufacturing in Ohio.
The president’s campaign on Wednesday began a “Made in Ohio” manufacturing tour, where supporters will spotlight how Obama’s policies have helped Ohio business. Vice President Joe Biden will visit Columbus Thursday as part of that tour.
“There is a choice in this election between President Obama’s vision for growing our economy from the middle out and Mitt Romney’s vision for an economy built from the top down,” said Obama campaign “truth team” member Wade Kapszukiewicz. He said Romney led Bain Capital in sending jobs overseas, helping wealthy shareholders at the expense of the middle class.
Wednesday marked a repeating theme in this election cycle. Both the Obama campaign and Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich, who introduced Romney in Bowling Green, pointed to an ongoing recovery in the Ohio economy. They disagreed, of course, about who deserves the credit.
While Obama touted his support for manufacturing, Kasich pointed to Republican-led efforts to overcome a 2010 budget deficit and make Ohio a great job-creation state in spite of “wind in my face from Washington, D.C.” Kasich, who has been absent from recent Romney campaign events in Ohio, immediately brought up Obama’s comments last week in Virginia about government help for business.
In the speech touting the value of government and business working together, Obama uttered the phrase, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that.” Romney supporters have jumped on the quote, saying the president insulted small-business owners by giving government credit for their success.
Romney was somewhat measured in his response, first agreeing that everyone who succeeds gets a helping hand somewhere along the way. But he also called it “the height of foolishness” for Obama to say people didn’t build their businesses themselves.
Romney also focused on his five-point plan to re-energize the economy. The points are, taking advantage of national energy resources like oil and coal; catching up to China and Europe with more trade deals; passing a balanced budget; improving schools so students develop job skills; and reducing taxes and regulation, including killing the Dodd-Frank banking regulation bill, which was pushed by the Democratic Congress and signed by Obama after the 2008 financial crisis.
Despite rumors that Romney might announce his vice presidential pick this week, he said Wednesday that he has not made a decision. When he mentioned Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a VP possibility, during another part of his speech, the crowd roared its approval.
Questions from a very anti-Obama crowd gave Romney several opportunities to attack the president, but again, Romney was often measured in his responses. When one woman called Obama a monster, Romney was quick to say he wouldn’t use that word.
When it came to jobs and the economy, however, Romney didn’t hold back, criticizing the president for not meeting with his jobs council for six months.
“His priority is not creating jobs for you, his priority is keeping his own job, and that’s why he’s going to lose it,” Romney said.