Mitt Romney looked to boost his post-debate momentum and get in some practice for his next encounter on Wednesday with a town-hall meeting in Ohio, where he fielded questions from voters in the crucial battleground sate.
Romney saw a bounce in the polls after his strong performance against President Obama in last week's debate, but Obama has fared well in that state since the showdown.
A poll of the Buckeye State released Tuesday by CNN showed the president maintaining a lead of 51 to 47 percent, but Romney was hoping to chip away at that advantage with his event in Mount Vernon — the latest in a string of events throughout the state.
Joined onstage by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Romney fielded questions on a variety of topics, from energy to foreign policy.
Romney and Christie touted the GOP nominee’s vow to expand oil-and-gas drilling on federal lands and waters, and speed up permitting.
They called it a way to boost jobs in the energy and manufacturing sectors, arguing that further expansion of natural-gas development will help keep costs low for chemical companies and other manufacturers that rely on the fuel.
“If I’m president I will double the number of permits and licenses on federal lands and in federal waters and we’re going to get the federal lands and federal waters to produce more energy just like the private sector is doing now on private lands,” he said to applause.
The Republican presidential nominee was also asked about his recent
debate performance, and whether he benefited from not having his words
filtered by the media.
Romney responded by joking that he had watched his wife's appearance on
"Good Morning America" that morning and, between the segments, got to
see some of the attack ads flooding the battleground airwaves.
"Good thing I don't do that very often, because my blood pressure would be very high," Romney quipped.
But Romney said that he appreciated the country's free press and said
there were "hundreds of stations" for individuals to choose from.
"I don't worry in the campaign about what the media says, I worry about what I say," Romney said.
For more on Romney's remarks, click here.
