Stopping at the Fish House yesterday afternoon on the Veterans for Romney tour across the Panhandle, Sen. John McCain relied heavily on his naval background to connect to his audience in his endorsement of the Republican presidential nominee.
On the outside deck of the restaurant, Florida Congressman Jeff Miller and Mayor Ashton Hayward introduced McCain to a bustling crowd.
McCain began his speech by reflecting on the time he spent in Pensacola training to be a naval aviator, but quickly got down to business in showing his support for Mitt Romney.
“I want to talk very seriously to our veterans,” McCain said. “This is the most important election of our lifetime. Whoever takes Florida is probably going to be the next president and that person has to be Mitt Romney.”
He then began to criticize many of President Barack Obama’s policies and spoke about the national debt.
“We’ve just gone over $16 trillion dollars in debt, he said. “This is the same president who said he would cut the deficit in half and said if we didn’t get our budget balanced in his first term then he didn’t deserve a second term. I guess he’s got a little amnesia on that one.”
“When Mitt Romney is the president of the United States, the first thing he’ll do is repeal and replace Obamacare,” he said to much applause. “He will stop this overwhelming avalanche of government regulations that is stifling the free enterprise system in America that has caused us to have the longest recession in history with the exception of the Great Depression.”
McCain continued to judge the President’s supposed lack of leadership during the war in Iraq.
“I believe this president does not know how to lead this country,” he said. “He does not understand the importance of our military. He does not understand that the forces of radical Islam are there and are a direct threat to our country. We’ve lost over 4,000 brave young Americans who sacrificed their lives in the war in Iraq. Now we are losing the peace after we have won. The Taliban is coming back and Al Qaeda is coming back because they know we are weak.”
Taking another jab at President Obam’s leadership during wartimes, McCain then asked the audience how many times they have heard Barack Obama utter the word “victory,” which
many people shouted back “never” in response.
McCain ended the rally by encouraging the veterans in the audience to go out and vote.
“You know what service and sacrifice is like,” he said. “It is your obligation. We have to get this vote out. This is going to come down to Florida.”