{"id":3190,"date":"2012-04-11T14:14:27","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T18:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=3190"},"modified":"2012-04-11T14:34:42","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T18:34:42","slug":"romney-comes-to-southern-chester-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=3190","title":{"rendered":"Romney comes to southern Chester County"},"content":{"rendered":"

Likely GOP presidential nominee talks economy, women’s issues in speech at Mendenhall Inn
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By P.J. D’Annunzio, <\/strong>Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney \u2014 the likely Republican nominee for president \u2014 speaks at Tuesday night's Chester County Republican Committee Spring Dinner, after being introduced by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).<\/p><\/div>\n

PENNSBURY \u2014 Just hours after Rick Santorum announced the suspension of his 2012 campaign for the White House, de facto Republican presidential nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, took to the podium at the Mendenhall Inn to rally support from his Chester County constituency.<\/p>\n

The Chester County Republican Committee’s annual spring dinner \u2014 held in the packed Mendenhall ballroom \u2014 featured prominent Republican leaders and contributors from around the Delaware Valley, including U.S. Senator Pat Toomey \u2014 originally slated as the dinner’s prime attraction. When the Romney campaign added southern Chester County to its itinerary just days before the dinner,\u00a0 it was Toomey who graciously provided Romney\u2019s introduction.<\/p>\n

At 7:45 PM Romney approached the podium to thunderous applause from his supporters. He began by praising Santorum, the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, for his determination and support of Republican principals.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe waged a spirited and energetic campaign,\u201d Romney said, \u201cHe has stood for issues of significance that will remain in the public discourse and he will without question remain a major spokesman in our party\u2026he\u2019s earned that by virtue of his effort not only as a senator but also by his work in his campaign. I look forward to joining him in this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

The talk, of course, was not limited to Santorum\u2019s conclusion in the presidential race. The focus of Romney\u2019s message was rebuilding the economy, intertwined with a response to allegations that he \u2014 through his proposed policies on birth control and Planned Parenthood \u2014 is an enemy of women.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had the privilege of starting off this afternoon in Delaware and meeting with about 12 women, each of them owners and senior if not chief executives of their respective firms,\u201d Romney said. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting how they felt the government is waging war on their businesses\u2026these individual women were pointing out to me how difficult it is in these Obama years for small business to be successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time we spoke about entrepreneurialism,\u201d he continued, \u201cThat entrepreneurial spirit is still there\u2026and yet this economy and this president have made things harder. He speaks of a war on women\u2014let me remind him of something: the real war on women has been waged by the policies of the Obama administration. Did you know that of all the jobs lost in the Obama years, 92.3% are women? In these Obama years women have suffered.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Local Democrats protest the speech of likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney during his speech Tuesday night at the Mendenhall Inn.<\/p><\/div>\n

But not all gathered on the grounds of Mendenhall Inn appeared to agree with Romney\u2019s claims for supporting women\u2019s equity. \u00a0Members of the group Women on Watch picketed the fundraiser along with members of the Chester County Democratic Commitee in a display of opposition against Romney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of things that Mitt Romney says he stands for \u2014 depending on the day \u2014 that we don\u2019t think are very good for the country, certainly not for the people,\u201d Chester County Democratic Committee member Bill Schoell said. \u201cHis recent stand on reproductive rights, his insistence to repeal Obama Care, his positions on income tax, the fact that his company \u2014 Bain Capital \u2014 lobbied hard for the income tax rate he pays while he stands up there and says \u2018I\u2019m only paying the 15% I\u2019m supposed to pay,\u2019 the jobs he\u2019s cost the American public; these are all things that are detrimental not only to women but the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, women in the Republican Party continue to show staunch support for Romney\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea who \u2018Women on Watch\u2019 are. I did see one sign about contraception \u2014 perhaps they think that everyone should pay for women\u2019s contraception,\u201d Pocopson Republican Committeewoman Andrea Gosselin said. \u201cI don\u2019t believe that contraception is healthcare. I think that if women don\u2019t want to get pregnant that it\u2019s their own responsibility to take care of and not anybody else\u2019s responsibility to pay for their desire not to get pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sentiment was shared by another female Republican, Kennett Township Republican Committeewoman and University of Delaware professor Dr. Kathleen Brewer-Smyth.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all women are following the biased media that is projecting the incorrect image that a woman says everyone else should pay for whatever she wants, for her benefits,\u201d she said. \u201cBenefits are just that; it\u2019s not a mandate it\u2019s not an entitlement. The reason we don\u2019t have as many jobs here is because we demand too much. If we stop demanding there\u2019d be more employers willing to have a business and employ more people. We need a balance\u2026it takes away the work ethic when things are given away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Romney continued to focus on the economy, stating that President Obama\u2019s economic policies are pushing the nation into a European Socialist model where a strong central government controls multiple facets of individual life and private enterprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are headed toward a European-style welfare state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His speech also touched on the reduced military spending of the Obama administration and America\u2019s role as a global power.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that the only place [Obama] is willing to cut deeply is the military,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think the world has become safer. I think the president\u2019s failures internationally will have just as many long-lasting effects and ramifications as his failures domestically\u2026his plan is to cut the navy, cut the air force; our Navy is smaller than any time since 1917 and our air force is older and smaller than any time since it was founded in 1947\u2026we should take our shipbuilding from 9 to 17 a year, we should by more F-35\u2019s, and we should add 100,000 active duty personnel\u2026America\u2019s military might is the greatest ally peace has ever known.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applause erupted once more as Romney concluded his speech and stepped down from the podium to greet his sponsors. The mood among Republicans in attendance was elated with high expectations for Romney\u2019s bid for the White House.<\/p>\n

Toomey, in an interview with The Times<\/em> following the dinner said he shared that enthusiasm about Romney and his prospects for the fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has much more sensible regulation, lighter regulation, offers a federal government that lives within its budget and its means so that it doesn\u2019t threaten small business with huge, threatening, staggering finance costs. He proposes lower taxes and a simplified tax code that\u2019s good for small business. Those are the things I think will be enormously helpful, of course for everyone across the country, but Chester County as well.”<\/p>\n

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh, a Pennsbury resident, acknowledged that Romney’s race to unseat President Obama would be challenging, but expressed optimism about the November election.<\/p>\n

“I think it will be a tight race. I think he will generate a lot of enthusiasm in the Republican party. I think it will be an interesting race, but I am hopeful that Mitt Romney will be the next president of the United States.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Likely GOP presidential nominee talks economy, women’s issues in speech at Mendenhall Inn By P.J. D’Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com PENNSBURY \u2014 Just hours after Rick Santorum announced the suspension of his 2012 campaign for the White House, de facto Republican presidential nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, took to the podium at the Mendenhall Inn to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,1],"tags":[549,327,547],"class_list":["post-3190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","category-uncategorized","tag-barack-obama","tag-election-2012","tag-mitt-romney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}