Paul Ryan and Joe Biden Face Off on Auto Bailout
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Joe Raedle/Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(RACINE, Wis.) — Paul Ryan wrapped up his two-day tour of his home state on Wednesday with an event in his own district, blasting opponent Joe Biden in a back and forth the two had throughout the day on the auto bailout.
“Everybody wants a strong and vibrant auto sector,” Ryan said to an enthusiastic crowd in Racine, Wis. “We want a strong manufacturing sector. But today, you might have heard that Joe Biden was at it again. Today, he was talking about the government bailout, which they keep touting as an unqualified success story… Chrysler in particular we know this story, are now choosing to expand manufacturing overseas. These are the facts. Those facts are inconvenient for the president, but no one disputes them.”
Not quite.
Earlier Wednesday in Sarasota, Fla., the vice president slammed the Romney campaign for a misleading ad that suggests the president allowed Chrysler to move Jeep operations to China, calling it an “outrageous lie,” an act of “desperation,” and “one of the most flagrantly dishonest ads I can ever remember in my political career.”
And executives at both GM and Chrysler have spoken out against the ad, calling it factually incorrect.
The Romney campaign entered the fray as well, issuing a statement from the GOP vice presidential nominee doubling down on the ad’s claims saying, ”GM and Chrysler are expanding their production overseas.”
The slugfest of words continued. Biden, responding to the statement, borrowed a buzz phrase from the president, saying the Wisconsin congressman had caught “Romnesia.”
“The facts are that Romney will say anything, anything to win,” Biden said in Ocala, Fla. “Ladies and gentlemen, the role of the president is not to show confusion, but to show confidence. That’s the role of the president!”
He also pointed out that Ryan himself was one of 32 House Republicans to vote for the auto bailout.
A new poll out Wednesday from Marquette University Law School shows a lead for the president in Ryan’s home state, with Obama at 51 percent and Romney at 43 percent. The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll out Wednesday afternoon has the race tied nationally, with both Romney and Obama at 49 percent support.
With just five days left, Ryan heads back on the campaign trail Thursday with stops in Colorado and Nevada.
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