By Elizabeth Vlock
In his last stump speech before the Democratic National Convention, President Obama accused Republican nominee Mitt Romney of refusing to offer specfic policy ideas in order to avoid public scrutiny.
Speaking at a rally at Norfolk State University in Virginia Tuesday, Obama told a crowd of supporters that Romney’s Republican National Convention speech only disguised the fact that a Romney administration would inhibit job creation, and remove financial regulations that prevent banks from engaging in the corrupt practices that led to the 2008 financial crash.
Obama decried Republicans for using diversionary tactics during the RNC to circumvent the need to explain their political approach to fixing the economy. Obama described the theme of the party gathering as boiling down to “everything is bad and it’s Obama’s fault, and Governor Romney knows the secret to creating jobs and growing the economy.”
“The only problem was, he kept it secret,” Obama said. “There was a lot of talk about hard truths and bold choices but [Republicans] never bothered to tell you what they were.”
The president broadly mocked Romney’s campaign goals, stating, “when my opponent had the chance to offer his secret sauce, he did not offer a single new idea. It was just retreads of the name policies that have been sticking it to the middle class for years.”
Obama further decried the RNC speakers stating Republicans “spent even less time talking about their plans. and that’s not just because they know you won’t like it but it’s because they know you saw what happened when we tried it. You’ve lived through it and you know we can’t afford to repeat it.”
As supporters booed Obama’s description of Romney’s policies, Obama told those in attendance “[d]on’t boo. Vote.”
Appealing to students in attendance, the president touted the Affordable Care Act clause that allows young adults to remain on their parents’ healthcare plans until the age of 26, and the administration’s ongoing efforts to make college and secondary education more affordable.
Obama attacked Romney for naiveté on the cost of college, referencing an earlier campaign comment to a youth on paying for school.
“When a young person asked Governor Romney what he could do to help young folks go to college he suggested ‘borrow money from your parents’… but maybe he wasn’t aware that there are some young people whose parents would love to give them the money and don’t have it,” Obama said.
Obama also embraced the Republican perpetuated nickname for the ACA, Obamacare, telling the crowd that Republicans “like to call it ‘Obamacare’ well let me tell you; I do care.”
