Twittersphere mocks Romney over Ford Field speech

The Twittersphere was not impressed by the optics of Mitt Romney's economic address at Ford Field on Friday, mocking the Republican presidential candidate for what appeared to be a small turnout in Detroit's cavernous football facility.

David Axelrod, President Obama's top political adviser, employed a football metaphor to poke fun at Romney.

Judging from pictures, looks like Mitt pinned himself in inside the 20.

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) Feb. 24, 2012

Romney's stage was set around the 20-yard line on one end of the field, with just over 1,000 supporters seated in folding chairs on the field behind him. In football, it's considered a strategic win when a kick or punt return is stopped behind an offense's own 20-yard line.

Romney acknowledged the setting while speaking; campaign officials said that the site that had been originally planned for the address — a Detroit hotel — was not big enough to accommodate the number of supporters.

“I want to thank the folks at the Ford Field for making this space available for us,” Romney said. “I guess we had a hard time finding a large enough place to meet and this certainly is.”

Commentators on both sides of the aisle mocked the event's optics, with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham questioning the choice.

The pictures of an empty Ford Field are not helping Romney. Poor staging and tepid response from hometown crowd.

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) Feb. 24, 2012

Query: Why move the event to a larger venue when it looks like Romney would not have been able to fill a smaller one?

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) Feb. 24, 2012

The daughters of former presidential candidate — and Romney endorser — Jon Hunstman likewise mocked Romney over the setting, comparing the turnout to that of the NBA's Washington Wizards, one of the sport's worst-performing teams.

Was Romney speaking at the Detroit stadium or a Washington Wizards game? #emptyimg.ly/em2N

— Huntsman Daughters (@Jon2012girls) Feb. 24, 2012

Journalists attending the speech also noted the optics, with the Washington Examiner's Byron York tweeting a picture of the event and calling the stadium "deserted."

Romney squeezes Detroit event into deserted stadium. img.ly/em2N

— Byron York (@ByronYork) Feb. 24, 2012

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