Romney: Obama needs to "get out of the way"

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney stopped in Colorado Springs on Saturday. But not for very long.

Though more than a thousand people turned out to hear the former Massachusetts governor speak at a hangar near the municipal airport, Romney spent less than 20 minutes talking to the crowd. Still, several said he was inspiring.

“Two words: character counts,” said local merchandiser Chris Jensen.

Leading the GOP primary field, Romney didn’t mention his Republican primary rivals, but spent his entire speech slamming President Barack Obama on nearly every topic imaginable.

“We elected this president to lead. He chose to follow. Now it’s time for him to get out of the way,” Romney said.

Cheers ensued.

Romney rolled to a primary victory in Nevada Saturday night.

In Colorado Springs, he hammered Obama on the economy, the national debt, energy, the military, and perhaps the biggest political anvil this year — health care. Although Romney instituted a health care reform plan in Massachusetts similar to what Obama pushed at the federal level, the former governor promised the crowd that his first act as commander in chief would be to get “Obamacare” repealed.

Romney also hit the top topic of 2012: Jobs.

He pointed to the rally’s host, Springs Fabrication CEO Tom Neppl, and said it was the private sector thatwill drive the American economy to recover from recession, not the $840 billion stimulus package signed by Obama in 2009.

Though Springs Fabrication received stimulus money in 2010, Romney said the influx didn’t create a lasting solution.

“I understand Tom (Neppl) said he was working on a project that got some stimulus money. I asked him, ‘Did you hire more people because of that?’ He said, ‘No’,” Romney said. “Just more money into the system, but no more people hired. That stimulus did not create private sector jobs.”

Romney’s experience as a businessman was something many rally-goers cited as the reason for their support.

“I want to see the country turned around, and a successful businessman like him can help us do that,” said Brian Patterson, who works at the Colorado Springs Ace Hardware Distribution Center.

“There’s a lot of people around here who have seen what he can do,” Patterson said, pointing out that Romney rescued the financially-troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City when he took over the program in 1999, and turned it into a profitable triumph.

Like Jensen, many others said Romney’s integrity appeals to them. Several said Romney’s top rival, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, leaves a bad taste in their mouths. Health care consultant Regina Vasquez said she wouldn’t even vote if Gingrich gets the GOP nomination, because of his turbulent personal life. Gingrich has been married three times and has admitted adultery.

Others said Romney is the best candidate the Republicans could run against Obama, because he’s often perceived as more of a centrist than either Gingrich or the two other Republicans still running — Texas Congressman Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Paul and Santorum have campaigned in Colorado Springs in recent days.

“I think he’ll be like Reagan. He’ll attract moderate Republicans and unaffiliated voters,” said Jensen.

Romney will win the primary and then return to Colorado Springs, predicted Colorado’s Republican Attorney General John Suthers, a Springs resident. Romney will because he knows the state’s nine electoral votes may be key in the national race, Suthers said.

And Suthers said he told Romney he needs to take El Paso County by at least a two-thirds vote to win the state, a major Obama prize in 2008.

“It could all boil down to Colorado, and Colorado often boils down to El Paso County,” said Suthers.