While President Obama Rallies, Mitt Romney Sits Lakeside With iPad
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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WOLFEBORO, N.H.) — Mitt Romney spent part of his Saturday morning sitting in a lawn chair barefoot on the beach of his New Hampshire lake house, iPad in hand, while President Obama was on the campaign trail.
It was the first glimpse of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee since Friday afternoon, when he arranged last-minute interviews with five television networks to deny claims by the Obama campaign that he lied about when he relinquished control of his private equity firm, Bain Capital.
All week, the attacks had plagued Romney, who had not come out himself against the accusations until the round of interviews Friday. Romney has said the attacks have distracted from the real issue of the campaign: the economy.
Romney, who last held a public event on Wednesday, does not have any events scheduled this weekend. He is expected to campaign next on Tuesday in Pennsylvania after a fundraising swing in Louisiana and Mississippi.
While President Obama is campaigning for a second day today in the battleground state of Virginia, a Romney aide said the candidate would be spending time at home.
On Friday evening, one of Romney’s senior adviser’s was spotted near the New Hampshire resort town, though it was not immediately clear whether a meeting had occurred with Romney.
Dressed in jeans, a blue dress shirt and his trusted iPad propped on his lap and headphones on, Romney sat on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee, his son Josh and one of his 18 grand children next to him.
Romney then went back into his home and reemerged in workout gear — dark shorts, dark t-shirt, sneakers and white athletic socks — and could be seen roaming around his lawn where he retrieved a bike pump and a bike helmet, which he placed on his head as he walked around the house.
The candidate appeared to be helping his son and some of his grandkids prepare for a bike ride. It was not clear if Romney himself joined, but at least two Secret Service agents were also spotted on the property with bikes.
Ann Romney was also spotted at the home, dressed in workout clothes and picking up toys off the lawn before putting her arms around her grandson and helping him play golf.
One of Romney’s other sons, Matt, could be seen standing at one of the home’s bay windows with a pair of binoculars pointed toward the lake, where several passersby would slow their boats to snap photos of the home as they passed, a Coast Guard boat idling nearby.
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