Biden Says "Romnesia" Spreading To Paul Ryan
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (CBSMiami/AP) — The term "Romnesia" is gaining steam.
Vice President Joe Biden told a crowd Saturday that "Romnesia" is spreading to Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan.
Biden began telling the crowd about the new word President Barack Obama used the day before to describe what he calls Republican Mitt Romney's changing polices. In anticipation, several of the 950 supporters packed into a basketball gym began shouting "Romnesia!"
"That man is contagious. Congressman Ryan caught it as well," Biden said to loud cheers.
He said the Wisconsin Congressman is now giving a new explanation for cuts in the budget he oversaw and passed in the House.
"He says we don't cut the budget, we just slow the growth of the budget. Well, tell that to all those folks on Medicare. Tell that to all those folks on Medicaid," Biden said. "Congressman Ryan saying that his budget doesn't decimate Medicare, eviscerate education, that's like Mitt Romney standing in an unemployment line and turning to a guy and saying, 'You know what? I didn't outsource your job, I just offshored it.'"
Biden attacked the Romney/Ryan ticket as not supporting women's issues and favoring economic and tax policies that favor the rich and not the middle class, a top-down position that he said has failed in the past.
He even invoked Republican President Ronald Reagan to make his case.
"I served with Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan said he did not think that a millionaire should pay at a lower (tax) rate than a bus driver paid. What happened to the Republican Party?" Biden said. "That's not some liberal idea, that was Ronald Reagan."
Earlier in the day, Biden stopped at an Orlando campaign office and met with volunteers.
"We wanted to come to the epicenter of the epicenter, man," he said. "Florida, you guys produce, we win Florida. We win Florida, this is all history, man."
Both campaigns are targeting Florida and its 29 electoral votes — the most of any tossup state. It was the second day of a two-day Florida swing for Biden, which overlapped a two-day swing by Ryan. Romney's wife, Ann, was also in Florida on Saturday, and first lady Michelle Obama planned a visit Monday ahead of the presidential debate that night in Boca Raton. The president is planning at least two days of campaigning in Florida after the debate.
This trip was the ninth Biden has made to Florida this year and the 24th since becoming vice president.
He spoke for nearly 40 minutes in St. Augustine, ending the event by telling the crowd, "When we take Florida, this election is over."
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