Romney says America deserves prosperity

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CINCINNATI, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, campaigning in Florida Saturday after a stop in Ohio, said America deserves "a brighter, prosperous future."

"We're going to encourage individuals to know that they can build it here in America, that there's a brighter, prosperous future here," Romney told his supporters in Jacksonville, Fla. "You deserve that. You deserve that after these four years of trouble that you've had."

GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan joined Romney in Jacksonville and urged Floridians to back Romney at the polls, Politico reported.

"Florida's going to elect Mitt Romney for the next president of the United States, aren't you? That's right," he said. "You have a big responsibility and a big opportunity. If Florida goes the right way, America goes the right way."

Earlier in the day, Romney stumped in Cincinnati, while Ryan campaigned in Columbus.

Ryan delivered a locker room pep talk to members of the football team at Miami of Ohio, his alma mater, before they played Ohio State. He also visited with tailgaters, flipped hamburgers and posed for photos.

In Cincinnati, Romney used football imagery when he said 23 million Americans are either out of work, underemployed or have stopped looking for jobs -- and said President Barack Obama should be replaced.

"If you have a coach that's zero and 23 million, you say it's time to get a new coach," Romney said. "It's time for America to see a winning season again, and we're going to bring it to 'em."

Reprising portions of his acceptance speech in Tampa, Fla., Thursday, Romney said Obama has disappointed many voters by failing to live up to his 2008 campaign promises.

"He famously said that he was going to slow the rise of the oceans," Romney told the audience in Cincinnati. "And he was going to heal the planet. And our promise to you is this: We're going to help the American people and help the families of America."

In response, Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said Romney is campaigning on "the same failed policies that crashed our economy and devastated the middle class in the first place and are promises the middle class just can't afford," The Washington Post reported.

"Mitt Romney spoke a lot about promises in Cincinnati today, but here are his promises to the middle class: a $2,000 tax hike for the average middle class family with kids to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, turning Medicare into a voucher system, and deep cuts to critical investments in education and infrastructure," Smith said in a statement.

Romney told the Cincinnati crowd he would "do everything in my power to bring us together."

"Because America built the strongest economy in the history of the Earth. United, we put Neil Armstrong on the moon. United, we faced own unspeakable darkness. United, our men and women in uniform continue to defend freedom today. I love those people who serve our great nation. This is a time for us to come together as a nation. We do not have to have the kind of divisiveness and recriminations we have seen over the past four years. I will bring us together. America is going to come roaring back. A better future is ahead. It's out there waiting for us."