the uss wisconsin have acknowledged that they found out pretty late about all of this and hadn't set it up for the obviously grandeur of the announcement of a vice president nominee and they had to sort of overnight put together what they could to make it more spectacular are, befitting the moment. kept is t. a great secret even from most of their people and a the last minute decision and announcement that it would come today as we reported at 11:00 last night seemed to catch an awful lot of people off guard, particularly the campaign. >> that seems to be the theme of the day the sort of last minute adjustment. you mentioned as we were going to you on the phone there have been last minute unexpected stops along the way. curious to know about the energy maybe this has brought to the campaign and what some of the is sur pleases along the way have -- surprises along the way have been in the last couple of hours. >> very early to take too many

but it is fair to sea when mitt romney and paul ryan have joined forces on the campaign trail in the past the chemistry and energy is self-perpetuating and self-complementing, no question about that. as for ongoing alterations of schedule we are expected to find out that tomorrow evening we will be going to wisconsin where paul ryan's home state for an opportunity for him to thank the folks at home and to highlight him to his hometown supporters. paul ryan is definitely injecting a new degree of energy and urgency to the campaign. it is exactly the type of stuff that many conservatives and republican ares had wanted romney to do and there is no doubt based upon his remarks earlier today paul ryan is eager to take it to the president and get behind the romney agenda. eager to bring the principles

that underpin the ryan budget in congress and the house passed ryan budget to the romney agenda. romney has supported what he did in legislation and now it is an obvious attempt by the romney campaign to change the type of debate that has been ongoing with attacks and name calling to the actual issues that matter most, size of government and fixing the economy. harris? >> carl cameron, campaign carl as we affectionately call him. he will meet up with two candidates now on the republican presidential ticket to talk about now as we expect the nomination process formally to come at convention coming up. certainly the vice presidential pick made. you are behind them and we will catch up with you as the news warrants. thank you. >> a little context on the timing of vice presidential announcements. today's announcement of congressman paul ryan comes 16 days before the republican national convention in tampa.

the only other candidate to be chosen earlier than that was democrat john edwards you may remember back in 2004. a stark contrast to republican is sarah palin who was introduced just three days before her party's convention back in 2008. and current vice president joe biden was chosen just two days before the 2008 democratic national convention. we have the tight, tight leadup. i know we all remember it. jon? as you can imagine, there is new reaction from the obama camp to governor romney's choice of congressman ryan for vice president. president obama's team is not wasting any time issuing a statement taking swipes at paul ryan's stance on taxing the wealthy. the question now, how will ryan match up against the man currently holding the job vice president joe biden? we white house correspondent ed henry is live in washington with a look at that. ed? >> certainly this is going to be an interesting debate when

they get together in the fall. in fact, vice president biden when gave what the campaign called a series of framing speeches a couple of months back to lay out what the obama camp saw as the vision what were the key issues confronting this campaign, he really went after paul ryan and went after his cuts to medicare in a speech down in florida for are example. that is going to be a feisty debate no doubt in the fall as we see all of this play out. also important to note while you heard carl report about a bold choice firing up conservatives, it is firing up liberals as well. jim messina the campaign manager immediately pouncing as this announcement was made put out a written statement and said "the architect of the radical house budget ryan like romney proposed an additional $250,000 tax cut for millionaires and deep cuts in education from head start to college aid. his plan also would end medicare by turning it into a voucher system and shifting thousands of dollars in healthcare costs to seniors.

as a member of congress ryan rubber stampeded the reckless bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. you caught all the phrases, rubber stamped, reckless and radical. now, essentially the romney ryan budget plan since it has been already endorsed by the presidential nominee presumptive. he picked ryan as his running mate. i spoke to steven moore conservative analyst who made clear that he believes who better to defend the ryan ryan himself.an himself. >> paul ryan is the real agent of hope and change. it trayvoning that was the 2008 campaign theme of barack obama. he is now running on the status quo he and fear. and paul ryan is an optimist. i think the american people are hungry for that. >> republicans saying they believe this sets up a big choice from the president's agenda in the weeks and months

ahead. who wanted a choice election? president obama has wanted a so called choice election all along because then the selection is less about a referendum of the last four years and more about who can take the country in a new direction over the course of the next four years. interesting about the choice. i suspect, though, that the romney ryan campaign will make the case in the days ahead it will be he a little bit of both. try to make it a referendum on the president's record the last four years and also make the case to the american people, not just republican voters but independents and democrats as well as the president will try as well that they have got a better agenda in terms of the choice ahead for the american people, jon. >> kind of interesting. i have been reading the news releases from prominent democrats like nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. they use much the same language. they say that that couldn't be a choice that is more clear, more stark. as you i say, ed, it going to be a choice election whether both parties want it that way or not.

>> interesting because you heard a lot of commentary today as well about how well all of a sud then is going make it more serious about some of the bold choices in terms of dealing with debt and defections. we spent a lot talking about the attack ads and who has been going after who on personal negative attacks. this ryan addition to the ticket might focus it in a a bit more on some of those substantive policy issues that romney has been saying he wants to focus on. i should note i have been out on the road this past week in colorado a key battleground with president obama and he was talking about tax cuts and healthcare. he says he wants that substantive campaign as well. both sides say they want to talk about substance. here is their chance, jon. >> ed henry at the white house. thank you. >> over the years, congressman ryan has grown into a leading voice within the republican party and repeatedly butted heads with the current president obama on budget issues. james rosen has more on this. at the heart of this has been entitlements. kind of the third rail, the red

hot potato in washington that no one wants to talk about. >> we will hear more about it it in this campaign. congressman ryan assumed the traditional role of the vice presidential nominee attacking president obama this morning for amassing what ryan called a record of failure and for being "more concerned about the next election than the next generation. as a 7 term lawmakers and chairman of the house budget committee, paul ryan has proposed two budget plans that passed the gop controlled house along partyy lines but not adot the by the democratic controlled senate. they called for $5 trillion in spending cuts and would repeal the obama healthcare law and enforce some $700 billion in medicaid cuts but ryan's latest plan would purportedly balance the budget and produce a surplus by 2040. the focus on debt and spending and above all policy was a hall mark even of his assault on the obama record in norfolk this morning. >> what i hear from them are

diminished dreams, lowered expectations. uncertain futures. i hear some people say this h is just the new normal. >> higher unemployment, declining incomes and crushing debt is not a new normal! [ applause ] it is the result of misguided policies. >> at a healthcare summit thor than two years ago and a series of events last year, president obama and congressman ryan have taken the rhetorical fight to each other as the spanish with say, con, mucho gusto. >> start freezing spending now. we all do town hall meetings and talk to our constituents.

the american people are engaged and if you think they want a government takeover of healthcare i would respectfully submit you are not listening to them. >> nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. >> jon and harris? >> add flew went spanish to james rosen's fabulous repertoire of skills. james, thank you. >> gracias. >> adding paul ryan to the gop ticket is expected to help solidify tea party support for romney's campaign. here is ryan today with his thoughts on america's founding principles. >> america is more than just a place, though. america is an idea. >> yeah! >> it is the only country

founded on an idea. our rights come from nature and god, not the from government. >> for more on this topic let's bring in fox news is contributor da mean in burelli author of backlash. the tea party is not a monolithic organization. there are many tea party chapters and many tea party members but overall is this the favorite pick do you think of the many members of the the tea party movement. >> considering what our country is up against, jon, this is where the tea party movement is facing it their energy and direction and the tea party individuals a group of grass roots movement of individuals concerned about the direction of our country. i am in the faith with these individuals on a regular basis across the country and there are grave concerns that we want direction and leadership coming from the white house and with paul ryan i do believe he can bring more energy, more

direction, more leadership and he is already involved in issues that the tea party movement is concerned about. the budget. repealing obama care. getting rid of cronie capitalism where the president is pecking winners and losers for energy. do i believe this is a good pick at the right time. >> there hasn't been a signature member of the congress picked as a vice presidential nominee since geraldine ferraro was picked as walter mondale's running mate. does the fact that he doesn't come from a governor's office or a senate seat, does that make a difference or raise any concerns. in. >> personally, i don't think it does. let's look at what he has to bring to the table. i think he complements mitt romney who is a hardcore businessman and a problem solver. and here we have paul ryan who is a fiscally responsible individual. strong on economics. and he believes in principles.

we have a president today who believes in government. and so we he want someone who will be a true leader, help put our country in the right direction and i do believe that this is what we could be facing with the next election. >> what about the democratic criticisms and they are out there already saying this is the guy who wants to gut medicare and social security? of course, we remember that famous democratic campaign ad that showed a guy who sort of resembled paul ryan throwing grandma off a cliff in her wheel chair. does that become in any way a problem, do you think? >> the problem would be to ignore the fact that there is -- there are grave concerns about our entitlement programs. these programs need to be addressed and looked at and not ignored like the current administration is doing. and so before it gets even worse let's look at the situation and where we can cut spending and where we can rein in waste fraud and abuse going on with entitlement programs.

>> he is something of a bridge, i guess you could say, between tea he party members and the republican establishment. >> you're absolutely right. the tea party movement is a pushback on big government and the established -- establishment government, especially establishment republicans and so we want good leadership, limited government, less spending, lower taxes, that will lead to more prosperity, economic growth and job creation in our country. >> deneen borelli. thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. >> thanks, jon. >> so many of you are on twitter and facebook. the cyber world exploding over the announcement. and social media sites from getter to blogs reacting to the new romney ryan team. peter doocy is keeping an eye on it for us. i just checked the number of followers representative ryan up above 170,000 and people are waiting for

running mate romney has proven how bad his decision-making is for working people and worth pointing out this morning mitt romney linked to a brand new twitter handle @ paul ryan vp which appears to have just been created overnight and already has over 45,000 followers. harris? >> and they will be coming over from his former one as a representative. all this proves just how many people now are turning to twin

citieser to communicate with each other including the campaign because you can't miss the fact that some of those barbs were meant for each other. peter doocy, thank you. republicans are hailing the decision as a bold move. will governor romney's new number one, congressman paul ryan rally the gop or does the selection give democrats new firing power? we will dehe bait it dee dee d balanced, next. >> in a city far to often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks, paul ryan is a shining exception. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico.

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a bold move by governor mitt romney that is how some campaign watchers are hailing governor mitt romney's decision to choose congressman paul ryan as his 2012 vice presidential running mate. here is the governor introducing him earlier this morning. >> in a city that is far are too often characterized by pettiness and personal attacks, paul ryan is a shining exception. he doesn't demonize his opponents. a lot of people in the other party who might disagree with paul ryan. i don't know of any one who doesn't respect his character and judgment. >> angela is a fox news

political analyst. julie is a fox news contributor and former communications director for democratic senator jon corzine. we have heard quite a few just kind of reactions if you will and glowing reactions from members of the gop. so julie, i want to start with you. because already there has been some strong reaction from democrats. in fact, some observers might say so quick and strong they might be a little worried. so they were fast to tweet this morning and jim messina the campaign manager for the obama campaign obama for america says this let's put this up on the screen and then i will get your reaction. congressman paul ryan is best known as the author of a budget so radical the no, times called it the most extreme budget plan passed by a house of congress in modern times. panic? >> quite the opposite. i frankly did a happy jig. >> happy jig. >> i fell on my knees and thanked the lord it was paul ryan. the tea party is going to be

happy about this. democrats will be happy about this because they ran against the rean plan in a special election in new york state a republican seat that was won by a democrat largely running against the ryan plan. the problem for mitt romney is that the ryan plan poll after poll shows independents, the too people out there still deciding hate the ryan plan the more they hear about it. it creates possible problems for seniors and women. >> you say the category of people undecide decided is a sl category. >> poll after poll. >> e-mail me the polls. >> i will e-mail you all the polls. >> a small sliver of the elector ate who has not made up their mind and the more they hear about the ryan plan, this is why the gop was worry. >> liberals want to make it about the ryan plan. paul ryan is a good friend of mine. julie did a happy dance and i did a happy dance. >> for completely different reasons. >> he is young and vibrant and at least he passed a budget. the democrats in the senate, harry reid hasn't passed a

budget in three years. he gets the job done. he doesn't deal with partisan politics. he can bring both sides together. >> no, he can't. >> yes, he does. >> what i hear from both of of you and kind of the point i was redding to, the democrats were ready already. >> the liberal spin machine. >> however, with specific words against representative ryan. is that is reflex of how many dippings this congressman has made against the congressman as they have argued over the budget. >> it any campaign when you have a short list of people floating and paul ryan was on the short list. they had opposition research on chris christie and tim pawlenty. is standard in campaigns. >> julie is right about being in front of the message and that is what the romney camp needs to do. get in front of the liberal message and define paul ryan as we want to it define him, not the liberal spin machine.

>> getting in front of the message. what do you specifically want to see your party do? >> talk about solutions. paul ryan is solutions oriented and julie made a statement dealing with undecided voters. it is going to be in dependents that is going to make the decision here and they are solutions oriented. obama and biden they want to blame. paul ryan and romney they want to bring forth solutions. the medicare plan might not have been the perfect plan but at least he put something forth to have people vote on. >> independents and undecideds are not necessarily in the same category and that is probably why your numbers don't jive because you are calling them the same thing but they are different. the other thing is i remember not too long ago when preptive rean was not maybe a darling of your party. what made the difference? >> the tea party. and the fact that he is not a part of the establishment. he is bold. he is going to do things. he doesn't play politics. he plays poll he is.

that is why i like him so much because that is what impacts washington, d.c. >> last word from julie. >> paul ryan has had no real job other than being in government and washington. >> that is a job. that is is job last i check. we pay their pay checks. >> according to mitt romney unless you create jobs you can't do the job of being president. according to mitt romney i guess paul ryan is not qualified to beurres. every time they try to privatize social security seniors are up in arms. big mistake with the romney campaign. >> people that are 55 and old oar medicare won't change. we need to do something about it and cut the entitlement pro grams and that is what they are going to do. >> good luck. >> now, i see why they normally have you in separate rooms. great to have you both. thank you very much. >> jon. >> a test of it there. the democrats wasting no time

in attacking mitt romney's choice of paul ryan to be his running mate. a look inside the democratic strategy, coming up. i have evidence that proves my dad's a space alien. he speaks a weird language... [ gargling ] drinks green stuff. he says he's from albuquerque. i'm not buying it. i mean, just look at him. and one more thing -- he has a spaceship. [ whirring ] the evidence doesn't lie. my dad's an alien.

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it is the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news. secretary of state hillary clinton announcing a joint effort with turkey in response to the crisis in syria. mrs. clinton saying the two nations are setting up a group of military and intel ex-about perts in case syria uses chemical weapons against rebels. >> an african ma of a -- an afn kills 6 u.s. soldiers. the taliban claiming responsibility for both ail tacks. a severe thunderstorm rips through connecticut leaving debris and flash flooding in its wake. thousands of people there are

still without power. announced the vice presidential republican candidate paul ryan. a leader in fiscal issues. >> i have proudly represented, wisconsin, in congress. there i have focused on solving the problems that confront our country. turning ideas into action and action into solutions. i am committed in heart and mind to puting that experience to work in a romney administration. [ applause ] >> our steve brown is live in ryan's hometown of janesville, wisconsin with more about the man joining the republican ticket right now. steve? >> hey, harris.

he becomes a national figure at age 42. kind of was as the house budget committee chairman. consider this he is 42 years old. young for national pol politic. and it is a man who is also believed to be the budget expert as far as house republicans are concerned. he is, of course, the author of the ryan budget plan. like it or not like it he was the man on point for the republican party. there is in janesville his hometown a farmer's market today and the buzz in the farmer's market, of course, was the fact that the local congressman is how to on the national republican ticket and that played to generally good reviews. have a list willen. >> i think it is good. i really do. i think that he is going to really care about people because he always has. and i think he is just going to be a real good vice president. >> he helps a lot of local projects and works locally here in janesville and helped a lot of my friends when the crisis

for the foreclosures and stuff hit. they were able to go to him and he was able to help them. >> that by no means was the only voices that we heard. i mean this is wisconsin, the home of the most partisan of partisan state politics. you will rather the scene at the state capitol going back two years. it is a difficult landscape politically speak and there are some fans of paul ryan and ardent retractors more than happy to have the opportunity to vote against him twice. he will appear on the ballot two times as we understand it. he will appear on the congressional ballot for the wisconsin first district and on the ballot as the vice presidential nominee in the state. a unique distinction for yet again a 42-year-old man. harris? >> steve brown, thank you very much. democratic attacks is are already coming as the democrats try to pick apart governor romney's choice for vice president.

what do they believe are congressman paul ryan's weaknesses? >> doug, when you heard it was paul ryan what was your first thought regarding democratic attack? >> i think this sharpens the focus of the race. president obama has said there were two visions and with congressman ryan's budget plan which would have done away with medicare and will certainly take on social security and medicaid down the line, bottom line there are two competing visions. go fog sharpen the focus in the race. and i think the campaign which jon is already harsh is going to get sharper still. >> ed still. >> at present medicare is forecast to go bankrupt in 14 years. something has to change. >> do you do it the way congressman ryan has been talking about which is turning

is into a voucher plan and the democrats are going to say they are going to vow not to cut medicare or social security. i believe in entitlement reform and in bowles simpson the plan of congressman ryan goes farther on that. i hope we can out of this get a bipartisan plan, jon. >> you heard talk in the announcement this morning from both governor romney and congressman ryan talk about bold leadership and not shirking decisions suggesting that the obama administration has essentially avoided doing anything and the congressman has in the past said that it is actually president obama who has been raiding medicare for funds, $750 billion i think was the term he used. >> i think there is another take on this. and please don't take this as just democratic sen bu spin bui think governor romney himself has been short on idea he grass bold visions. he needs a vice president who has ideas of vision and a new approach and effectively

congressman ryan is adding to his campaign a fairly stark view of how we reform entitlements. i would suggest that while you could say that i think fairly the obama administration didn't do enough to reform entitlements and put boles simpson before the congress, the ryan plan goes farther than most are prepare heed to go. >> senior citizens are also concerned about their grand children and when you put paul ryan up there with his attractive family and he has spent a lot of time talking about his kids and how worried he is about them and america's future. doesn't that play pretty well even to seniors who might be concerned about their own situation? >> well, jon, i won't deny it is good rhetoric. bottom line, every seenon citizen i have spoken to in depth and i have been doing this 35 years as a professional for bill clinton, they put

their own economic interest and healthcare ahead of their own children and grand children. he is an attractive candidate. florida is now even more vulnerable for romney that it was a couple of days ago. >> see what happens over next 87 days or so. doug schoen. good to have you on. >> the president is leaving andrews air force base today president obama and we were wondering whether or not he might talk on his way to chicago, might talk about the new announcement. congressman paul ryan joining the ticket as the running mate. reporter there's ready to ask the question. but the president didn't take any questions at least not on that subject. we are following that side of it for you as well. what empact might the latest announcement have on our

nation's business community? they have been close watchers of the recent healthcare reform as we all have been. particularly that community. healthcare reform that passed so on and so forth, what will they he think of congressman ryan joining governor romney on the presidential ticket? we'll take a look. stay close. [ male announcer ] this is anna, her long day teaching the perfect swing begins with back pain and a choice. take advil, and maybe have to take up to four in a day. or take aleve, which can relieve pain all day with just two pills. good eye.

congressman paul ryan selection as governor you mitt romney about's running mate underscoring the important importance of the economy in the election. in his acceptance speech ryan saying the republican ticket has what it takes to get america back on track. how will business leaders in particular react to his selection? joining us is fox news contributor gary coltbaum. good to see you food. >> thanks for having me.

>> just on first blush what does this communicate to the business community? >> i think mitt romney means business at this point in time. you got to realize something. there has been so much uncertainty the last three and a half four years in business whether tax policy, healthcare costs you name it and, of course, the big gigantic deficit that this is sending a message that we are here and going to try and do something about it and putting it front and center. >> gary, you point to uncertainty right off the bat. something that clearly both campaigns are probably discussing at this point. today in his speech, congressman ryan talked about the uncertainty and how we meet have gotten there, the division in washington. he said i have worked closely with republicans as well as democrats to advance an agenda of economic growth fiscal discipline and job creation. that uncertainty was the first thing you mentioned. talk to me about that. >> well, look, businesses are not just - the people. they make decisions based on policy out of washington. based on taxes and based on

deficits. by the way, a deficit is a tax and when they read that this $3 billion a day being added to the deficit that is a tax on the consumer, a tax on business. if that dynamic does not change, they are not going to do any hiring and there is no wonder at this point in time we can't get under 8% because nobody knows where we are headed. the healthcare plan whether it is good or not was supposed to cost $00 billion and up up to $8.7 trillion. when the government comes out with a program, times it by a factor of ten. i think with romney saying here we will put some certainty. they have a plan controversial on the medicare and medicaid and deficits but the bottom line is they ar they willing tt out there and go up against obama with it. >> quickly before i let you georg before i let you go. talk about small business leaders. those are where most of the

jobs come from in this country. >> well, small business has not been creating like it used to. and when i speak to the small business and i speak to them all the time, they are saying the same thing. when they look at a healthcare policy they have no clue what they are going to be paying so they are not going to do more hiring and we are reading about that every single day whether it is newspapers, tvs, magazines and that is what is out there. if i had a message to obama, do something. don't just let this deficit keep going higher are. don't get costs keep going higher. do something. put some definition, put some clarity into things at least businesses will know what they are up against and be able to make some decisions and that just has not happened yet and i think what romney has done with paul ryan is they will put it out there with certainty and people get to choose. >> gary, always good to have you. thank you you very much. jon? >> newly appointed vice presidential candidate paul ryan is known for his thoughtful ca fiscal policy.

what about his views on foreign policy? answers that might surprise you coming up next. >> we are on an unsustainable path robbing america of our freedom and security. it doesn't have to be this way. [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made of.

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a fox news alert. we had all been led to believe that mitt romney would be making a four state bus tour before he announced selection of a vice presidential nominee. but here is that nominee paul ryan, the seven term congressman from wisconsin. the chairman of the house budget committee. there they are at a community college in ashland, virginia. let's listen in to the congressman, the new vice presidential selection of mitt romney. >> with his party firmly in control the first two years got almost everything passed in the law that he wanted. and now we are living under those policies. now, we are witnessing a nation in debt, further in doubt, deeper in despair. now, we are seeing a country where after the recession the so-called recovery is the worst we have seen in 70 years. unemployment above 8% the entire time. we have had the largest

deficits and the biggest government since world war ii. nearly one out of six americans today is living in poverty. that is the worst we have seen in a generation. household incomes are down. unemployment is up. you know what the good news is? it doesn't have to be this way. we can turn this thing around. we can get this right. [ applause ] you know how we do that? we he elect a leader. we elect a leader. because right now we need leadership. we don't need attacks. we don't need blame. we need leadership. we need someone of principle. someone of achievement. someone of integrity. that man is standing next to me. his name is mitt romney and he is going be the next president of the united states! [ applause ]

>> take a look at leadership. experience. integrity. successful man in business. starting businesses. turning around failing businesses. and an astounding success rate. i'm proud of that. we are proud of that because when americans succeed we all succeed. his country asked him to save the olympics and he did it and we are all proud of that moment. [ applause ] when was governor of massachusetts the credit rating of massachusetts was upgraded

for the first time in our history the credit rating of america under president obama's leadership was down graded. when was governor of massachusetts unemployment went down. under barack obama it has gone up. [crowd booing] >> and when was governor of massachusetts, incomes, household income, family incomes went up. they have gone down $4,000 over the past four years. [crowd booing] >> now, president obama cannot run on this record. it is a terrible record to run on. and he didn't change. i have served in congress this whole time. he didn't tack to the middle. he didn't do things that were centrist. he stayed hard left. if he can't run on his record, it he didn't moderate. what has he got left? he is going to divide and distract this country to win an election by default and you know what?

we are not going fall fo for t! [ applause ] >> we see that hope and change has become attack and blame. but we know better. and being here this this great state of virginia a state that those of us who are all americans are are in debt to, the cradle of so many of our great founders, one of the best said our rights come from nature and nature about''s god. they don't come from government. that is the idea of this country. [ applause ] ever. >> we believe in liberty. we believe in freedom. we need to exercise it and each generation has its chance. this is our generation's defining moment. it doesn't matter what generation you come from, this is the most important election in your lifetime. we are at that proverbial fork in the road and so what we have

here is a man who is has met and is right for the moment and that man who is right for this moment to get us on the right path off of the wrong path is the man who is about to be the next president of the united states and that is governor mitt romney! [ applause ] >> thank you. you stay here. you stay here. wow, what a crowd here. thank you so much! wow. thank you ashland. you guys are great. thank you. olympics. well, it is an honor being here with you here today. people keep telling me this is the center of the universe. people of washington think that is true about them. that is not true. this is is the place. this is the place. what an honor. it is an honor to be with you and to have you spend some time

with the next vice president of the united states and myself and an honor to be with your governor. what a great leader. you are so lucky to have a person who understood what it takes to bring jobs back to virginia. virginia is doing well in part because of his leadership ad skills and also that of his lieutenant governor bill bolling, a great friend and i hope the next governor of this great state of virginia and one more person, george allen is around here some where. what a great leader. where is george? there he is right there standing above the crowd. governor, next senator george allen. you know today was a big day for me. sure was a big day for paul and for his family and i think it is a big day for america. we took a step forward in restoring the promise of america because i he have selected a person who is a leader as we look for people to help guide our country as i look for people to work with me if i get that chance i want

someone who is a leader and leadership begins with character. character and vision. [ applause ] >> this is a man whose character was formed early. he was in high school when his dad suddenly passed away. and he matured quickly this a setting like that with a family that surrounded him and helped him and a community that helped him regain his footing. he began with interest in public service not because of personal ambition but because of his passion and faith for america and a belief that america needed individuals who would put the country first, who would put the issues of america ahead of the issues of their personal concerns. and so he went to washington. and tore 14 years he has been battling in washington as a leader and has found some extraordinary capacity there which is one to be an intellectual leader in our party. he is one of those that really understands how government

works and how it can be tamed and we can restore to the people of america the rights and powers of our people. how states are the places where new ideas are developed and tested and grown. he understands the constitution and has done something that very few people in washington learn how to do. he made friends on both sides of the aisle. he has garnered respect from republicans and democrats. and when the big issues that come up like how do we save medicare instead of doing what the president did which is cutting it by $700 billion, that is what president obama did. he said this man -- this -- look at him, this man said yeah, we'll get back. this man said i'm going to find democrats to work with. found a democrat to colead a piece of legislation to make sure we can save medicare. republicans and democrats coming together. he is the man who has great ideas and the capacity to lead to find people across the aisle to work together to make things change for