R.T. Ryback
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney continues to be a primary target for President Obama’s campaign team. R.T. Rybak — the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee — ripped into Romney during a news conference in Des Moines today.
“President Obama’s in New Hampshire and he’s talking about extending the payroll tax credit…That’s about putting dollars in the pockets of middle class people in Iowa,” R.T. Rybak said. “Tomorrow Mitt Romney will be here in Iowa and he opposes doing that. He was for it before. He’s against it now. He’s flip-flopped again.”
AUDIO of today’s news conference.
Rybak is the mayor of Minneapolis and he’s the second big-city mayor to come to Iowa and cast Romney as a flip-flopper. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — Obama’s former chief of staff — spoke at a Saturday night fundraiser for Iowa Democrats and spent much of his speech blasting Romney. Rybak spoke at the Obama campaign’s Iowa headquarters about 24 hours before Romney is due to campaign in Iowa.
“We have Mitt Romney coming back here, changing positions every day, flipping and flopping throughout the state of Iowa,” Rybak said. “That’s not what Iowa wants or needs and I think we proved that four years ago and we’re going to prove it again.”
Rybak went so far as to accuse Romney of airing a deceptive campaign ad that quotes Obama saying in 2008 that “if we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” Rybak says that’s “factually wrong” because Obama was not talking about himself, but quoting someone who worked for John McCain’s 2008 campaign.
“The great thing about people in Iowa is that they have a lot of different political opinions, but one thing they agree on is honesty and common sense,” Rybak said. “…Mitt Romney has started his campaign in Iowa with deceit and it’s about time that we called him on it.”
A spokesman for Romney’s campaign says “the tables have turned” on Obama and Romney intends to hold the president accountable for the country’s “abysmal” economy. Romney is due to speak to employees at a Des Moines insurance company tomorrow morning. Romney’s campaign last weekend opened an office in Des Moines, a signal Romney may be ramping up efforts here in the last 40 days of the Iowa Caucus campaign.