Romney in Cincinnati (Brian Snyder/Reuters)
CINCINNATI—Headlining a rally on the opening day of the college football season, Mitt Romney sprinkled his stump speech Saturday with sports analogies, arguing it's time to put a "new coach" on the field to get America back in the game.
Speaking at a rally inside a historic train station here, Romney reminded his audience of President Barack Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech, telling supporters "he didn't keep a lot of promises."
"One of the promises he made was he was going to create more jobs, and today, there are 23 million people out of work or have stopped looking for work or underemployed," Romney said. "Let me tell you: If you have a coach that's zero and 23 million, you say it's time to get a new coach."
As a crowd of a few thousand people let out a roar of approval, Romney added, "It's time for America to see a winning season again, and we are going to bring it to them."
It was Romney's first stop in Ohio since officially claiming the GOP nomination. His running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, is also in the state—attending a football game at his alma mater Miami University, which is playing in-state rival Ohio State University.
Romney argued that he was the person who can deliver on creating new jobs and turning the economy around.
"We recognize what a great responsibility you've given us. How much you expect from us to be able to get back the White House and get America back on track," Romney said. "We've seen these last four years a lot of disappointment; a lot of families having a hard time… These are tough times for the American people, and added to all that is the divisiveness and bitterness we've seen from the president's campaign."
Romney said America "is a story of the many becoming one and accomplishing extraordinary things because of our unity" and implied he would be the person who could bring the country back together.
From here, Romney heads back to Florida, where he'll hold a joint rally with Ryan in Jacksonville.