Romney Closes Out Campaign with Final Rally in New Hampshire
Published at
Darren McCollester/Getty Images(MANCHESTER, N.H.) — Mitt Romney held his final rally of his campaign Monday just before midnight struck, telling a thunderous crowd in Manchester, N.H., that it will be the Granite State that helps him win the White House.
“That is quite a welcome!” Romney told the crowd of more than 12,000 slapping noisemakers and waving signs. “This is a special moment for Ann and for me because this is where our campaign began. You got this campaign started a year and a half ago at the Scammon Farm.”
“And then your primary vote put me on the path to win the republican nomination,” he said. “And tomorrow your votes and your work right here in New Hampshire will help me become the next president of the United States!”
Romney’s campaign was launched in Stratham, N.H., in June 2011, and he has returned to the state more than 23 times this year alone. He essentially camped out in the state in the days and weeks prior to the January primary. Romney, who also owns a home in New Hampshire, spent weeks in the state over the summer too.
“Together we must lead America to a better place,” Romney said at the rally, his fifth of the day.
“We’re one day away from fresh start, one day away from the first day of a new beginning,” he said. “My conviction is that better days are ahead and that’s not based on promises and hollow rhetoric but on solid plans and proven results, and on an unshakeable belief in the greatness of the American spirit.”
Musician Kid Rock played at the rally, performing live his signature song “Born Free,” which Romney adopted early on as his campaign song. Standing on top of a grand piano, Rock screamed the lyrics into the microphone as the Romney’s approached the podium.
“I have to say thank you to Kid Rock. Let me tell you, we are kids of Detroit, Kid Rock and I are, and Mitt is a kid of Detroit and we love Michigan, we love Kid Rock, we love that he stood up for us and helped us out for all this time,” Ann Romney said.
“It’s been a long journey; it started in New Hampshire a year and a half ago, our hearts are full, and what we have learned by going on the trail is we’ve seen the America that you all love, that we all love, we feel it’s in danger, we feel it’s slipping away from us. I love this country, I love the people I’ve seen in this country but more than anything I have loved hearing the voices of the women that I’ve heard all across this country,” she said.
“I have to tell you so many women are hurting in this economy and I have some hope for you because guess what, hope is on the way and it starts tomorrow!” Mrs. Romney said.
Mitt and Ann Romney will vote first thing Tuesday morning in their hometown of Belmont, Mass., before Romney heads to Ohio and Pennsylvania for last minute stops before the polls close.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio