Ryan and Boehner Rally Includes Eyebrow-Raising Jokes
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Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images(DURANGO, Colo.) — Speaker John Boehner joined Paul Ryan on the campaign trail Monday and told the crowd they originally met when Ryan was a student at Miami University of Ohio when he helped Boehner put up yard signs for his first congressional race.
“Twenty-two years ago, I was running for Congress for the first time. And you know, if they can’t say your name, they probably aren’t going to vote for you. Look at my name: Beaner. Bonner. Boner,” the speaker of the House joked about his last name.
After making fun of himself, Boehner had only praise for Ryan.
“You’re never going to find a more decent person on the face of the earth. Never going to find anyone who’s as smart as he is, who knows more about economic policy, knows more about the economy,” he said.
When he took the stage in front of over 1,000 people, Ryan threw the joke back at Boehner incorrectly pronouncing his last name as “boner.”
“Hey, it’s nice to see John Boehner here today isn’t it,” Ryan said, laughing at the incorrect pronunciation. “It’s a true story, but I would put up yard signs as a young guy in college. I had no idea how to pronounce his name. But serving with him for 14 years we kind of figured it out.”
Ryan did not mention Monday night’s final debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, but Boehner did, saying Romney will “show the American people the lack of leadership in this White House when it comes to the issue of foreign policy.”
Monday night’s debate hosted by CBS News’ Bob Schieffer will focus on foreign policy.
The speaker also accused the president of lying to the American people at last week’s debate at Hofstra University.
“Last week in that debate, he attempted to mislead the American people about the deaths of four Americans in Libya,” Boehner said. “Now, tonight the president has the opportunity to level with the American people, to look the American people in the eye and tell them the truth about what he knew and when he knew it.”
Ryan is on the second day of a three-day swing in the state. Polls there are in a dead heat with both candidates within the margin of error. He urged the crowd at Fort Lewis College to vote early. Early voting in the state started Monday.
“We need your help,” Ryan said. “We need your votes. Early voting started. Colorado is at the cusp of the battleground states. This state and a handful of other states will determine the future of this country not for four years, but for a generation.”
Ryan campaigned outside of a vent and piping factory in Pueblo West earlier Monday and visited a debate-watching party in Grand Junction before watching the face-off himself at his hotel. He continues his swing Tuesday evening with a joint event with Mitt Romney in the state — that’s after another rally with the top of the ticket outside of Las Vegas.
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