The vice presidential nominees of both political parties have been in Iowa this week and both made a personal pitch for “early” voting in Iowa, starting later this month. Vice President Joe Biden did it Tuesday morning in Ottumwa at a rally with local Democrats.
“It’s time to stand up, stand up for the middle class and you can start in nine days, in nine days here in Iowa — that’s when voting starts so go,” Biden said, “and start voting as early as the 27th.”
Paul Ryan, the GOP nominee for vice president, spoke at a rally in Des Moines on Monday and brought up the topic early in his remarks.
“I’ve got to tell you, Iowa, early voting starts in about a week,” Ryan said. “We need you to get out and vote because states like Iowa could very well determine the future of this country.”
That was evident as both Biden and Ryan campaigned in Iowa at the same time Monday.
As Biden arrived on Tuesday, secretly recorded comments Mitt Romney made at a fundraiser back in May were making headlines. Romney had suggested his job as G-O-P nominee was “not to worry” about the “47 percent” of Americans who’ll vote for Obama because they’re “dependent on government.” Biden told a crowd in Grinnell on Tuesday afternoon that Romney makes a false assumption about government programs, like college student loans.
“It didn’t cause any of us to become dependent. It empowered us. It empowers you,” Biden said, to cheers from the audience on the Grinnell College campus.
Shawn McCoy, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, shot back, saying President Obama and Vice President Biden “have proposed failed policies” while Romney would “move Americans off of government dependency and into greater prosperity.”