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Text by Kevin Fallon
Photographs by Charles Ommanney
As he basked in the glow of a crucially impressive performance against President Obama at the first presidential debate last week, it was only fitting that Mitt Romney immediately head to the Sunshine State—one of the election’s key battleground states—for several days of campaigning. As the GOP presidential hopeful stumped with his wife in Florida, Charles Ommanney, on assignment for Newsweek, hopped on the campaign trail and photographed the trek.
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Supporters gather at a rally in Port St. Lucie’s Tradition town square on Oct. 7 to catch a glimpse Mitt and Ann Romney. A crowd of roughly 12,000 people showed up to hear the GOP candidate speak, erupting into cheers as he recalled President Obama’s poor performance in the first presidential debate. “Now of course, days later, we’re hearing his excuses,” Romney said. “And next January we’ll be watching him leave the White House for the last time.”
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On Oct. 5, the day after the first presidential debate, Romney, flanked by a Secret Service agent, speaks to a crowd in St. Petersburg. Later that night, Romney gave an interview to Fox News in which he said he regrets his controversial comments about the “47 percent.” “Now and then you’re going to say something that doesn’t come out right,” Romney said. “In this case I said something that’s just completely wrong ... This whole campaign is about the 100 percent. When I become president, it’ll be about helping the 100 percent.”
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A man, wearing a patriotic polo, attends the Romney rally in St. Petersburg on Oct. 5.
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Wearing a T-shirt that pokes fun of the Democratic donkey symbol by depicting it as the mopey, doom-and-gloom Winnie the Pooh character Eeyore, a woman rallies for Romney in Apopka on Oct. 6.
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Those gathered in Port St. Lucie Oct. 7 for Romney’s rally had extra cause to celebrate. Polls released that day showed that, following his strong performance in the first presidential debate, Romney overtook Obama for the lead.
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Ann and Mitt Romney wave to supporters at a campaign stop in Port St. Lucie on Oct. 7. Praising her husband’s impressive debate performance earlier in the week, Ann said she’s glad Americans are finally seeing her husband the way she does: “A good and decent person.”
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The Romneys campaign in Apopka on Oct. 6.
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After his speech at Tradition Town Square in Port St. Lucie Oct. 7, Romney visited local business owners. “I hugged him, I kissed him on the cheek,” said Roberta Hepburn, who works at the Tin Fish Restaurant, just across from the square. “Just told him how we were very—it was just so amazing that he was here.”
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Navigating the precarious tight rope between his conservative base and Florida’s undecided voters, Romney preached bipartisanship. “I will do everything in my power to draw on that greatness of the American people to make us more united as a people to have us pull together to reach across the aisle and find good Democrats in the House and the Senate that care deeply about America just as I do,” Romney told supporters gathered in Port St. Lucie. “I know they’ll work together if they have leadership that will actually work and share credit.”
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It was standing room only at Romney’s Port St. Lucie rally. Eager for a glimpse at the presidential nominee, however, a couple of young boys scaled a tree and watched from its branches.
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Though he was addressing a crowd of thousands in St. Petersburg, Romney spoke in a rare, intimate fashion. As he told personal stories about ministering to the needy in his Mormon church, his encounters with a teenager dying of leukemia, and a friend who became a quadriplegic after a tragic accident, supporters in attendance welled up with tears. “I’ve seen America,” Romney said. “I’ve seen the greatness of the human spirit in my fellow Americans. It’s what gives me confidence in our future, knowing we can rise to the occasion, time and again. I’ve seen it throughout my life.”
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Brimming with confidence during his first post-debate stop in St. Petersburg on Oct. 5, Romney spoke for 19 minutes to a crowd of about 6,000 people. “I enjoyed that debate a couple of nights ago,” he told the gathered supporters. “That was a great experience.”
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Was Romney’s Florida canvassing a success? The RealClearPolitics average of polling revealed Tuesday that Romney leads by less than 1 percentage point in Florida. A small fraction, yes, but considering the lead the Obama once held in the battleground state, the lead marks a monumental swing in the numbers. From Florida, the former governor continued to Virginia for a speech on foreign policy. Later in the week, all eyes will be on Paul Ryan to see if the vice-presidential candidate can continue the ticket’s momentum when he debates Joe Biden on Thursday.
Charles Ommanney for Newsweek