Watch video of Vice President Joe Biden's speech in Athens here. Take a look at the photo slideshow here.
Southeast Ohio is a relatively small room in the voting powerhouse that is Ohio, but the region still got some love with both Republican and Democratic visits Saturday.
Within four hours, Vice President Joe Biden and Craig Romney, son of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, both made appearances in Athens and met supporters Saturday.
Craig Romney stopped by the Athens County Republican Headquarters on Saturday morning and spoke to a crowd of about 60 before taking pictures with supporters.
Then Biden spoke to a crowd of 675 at a rally held at the Athens Community Center.
Romney, 31, mentioned Biden briefly, and supporters in the crowd booed before Romney moved on to discuss job creation, life with his dad and how Athens Republicans can help put Mitt Romney in the White House by swaying undecided voters.
Romney said that it might be a misconception that young voters generally support President Barack Obama, adding that the Romney campaign has seen “a swell of college students supporting (Romney) because they want a job after graduation.”
But Republicans say their event wasn’t organized to counterbalance Biden’s.
“I didn’t know Joe Biden was even coming,” said Rebecca Thacker, a professor of sport administration and chairwoman of Athens County for Romney-Ryan.
“We should ask Biden’s people if they were here because Craig Romney was here.”
Biden spoke about how he and Obama would support federal Pell Grants to offset the cost of rising higher-education costs, which got applause and cheers from the crowd at the rally.
Using Pell Grants to keep students in school would help both Ohio University and Athens, said Councilman Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward, adding that a drop in enrollment at OU would hurt the economy in Athens.
“There’s a saying that when OU gets a cold, Athens gets pneumonia,” Risner said. “That’s just one reason why I support this ticket.”
Biden also told an anecdote about his last trip to Athens 49 years ago for a football game between OU and the University of Delaware, Biden’s alma mater.
“We beat you Bobcats 29–12,” he said.
He spoke about getting in trouble for going into a women’s dorm.
“I made sure I didn’t get arrested (while in Athens), but I almost did,” he said.
But Biden’s visit Saturday meant more to Athens than a good football game almost five decades ago.
A visit from a sitting vice president is a rarity in Athens, said Mayor Paul Wiehl, who added that he didn’t know about Romney’s Athens event until Saturday morning.
“I don’t think it made as big of a splash,” Wiehl said. “But it’s a campaign, and it’s nice that all this is happening in Athens.”
Bill Bias, former chair of the Athens County Democratic Party and candidate for Athens County Treasurer, said the county could have a large sway in Ohio’s voting.
“When you take a look at what a hard state Ohio is (to win) and when you look at how dependable Athens County can be for the Democratic Party, I would be surprised if we don’t have other people coming down, too,” Bias said.
Other notable Ohio Democrats were in attendance, including former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, Athens Law Director and U.S. Congressional Candidate Pat Lang and Ohio Supreme Court Justice Yvette McGee Brown.
Republicans at Romney’s event included Athens County Commissioner Larry Payne and Commissioner Candidate Randy Mace.
jj360410@ohiou.edu
