Romney forced to backpedal after thorny Virginia Endorsement

Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/11/ro

Richmond, Virginia (CNN) - Mitt Romney's campaign awkwardly backpedaled Saturday after the presumptive Republican presidential nominee waded into a contentious GOP primary fight in Virginia during his second campaign event alongside his new running mate Paul Ryan.

Speaking at a rally in Ashland, a picturesque town just north of Richmond, Romney described Virginia Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, who was in attendance, as "a great friend, and I hope the next governor of Virginia."


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But to take sides in a high-profile Republican primary battle when the day's mission was to roll out the Ryan pick and unite the conservative base struck many observers as odd.

Romney and his aides tried to walk back the comments after the event.

Speaking to an overflow crowd after the Ashland rally, Romney talked about the need to elect a Republican governor in 2013 and said: "There are a couple of guys in the race, I love them both. I want to see one of those guys take his place."

Read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/11/romney-forced-to-backpedal-after-thorny-virginia-endorsement/

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Rollout Fail: Mitt Romney Disses Tea Party Star On Day Of Base-Focused VP Rollout


Mitt Romney giveth and he taketh away. On the day he fired up the conservative base by selecting Paul Ryan as his running mate, he also dissed one of the tea party’s favorite rising political stars and one of his recent surrogates.

At his second Virginia campaign stop of the day Saturday after debuting Ryan as his running mate, Romney appeared to weigh into the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial GOP primary which pits Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli.

Bolling joined Romney on the trail, first in Norfolk where Ryan made his first speech of the day and then in Ashland, Va., where Romney and Ryan made another appearance.

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