A full house showed up at Brickyard Plaza to welcome Utah Sen. Orin Hatch to Mesquite on Oct. 12. Hatch was accompanied by Nevada Republicans U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Nevada Assemblyman Cresent Hardy.
The three candidates were in Mesquite to show support for each other, as well as Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan in their bid for the White House. “I like to call them, respectfully, the R&R team,” commented Hardy.
Hatch spoke to the audience and stressed the importance of Nevada residents to the election. “This is a very important state. It could well be the state that puts Mitt Romney over,” said Hatch. Hatch spoke highly of Heller saying “He’s a very bright guy. He has already made a very good name for himself in the United States Senate. We have to have Dean back.”
Hatch is worried about the future of the United States and stressed the magnitude of this election. “This is the most important political election of my lifetime. This country is in real big trouble. This is the greatest country in the world and we can pull it out of this trouble. We have a president who I personally like as a human being, but really doesn’t know what he’s doing. I think he wants to bring us down to the level of Europe. Everybody in Europe except Germany is in real trouble, and I don’t want to see that happen,” said Hatch.
Hatch also commented on his relationship with Romney, saying that Utah had experience with him when the Winter Olympics were in Salt Lake City in 2002. “We were 400 million dollars in the hole. We brought Mitt Romney in. Immediately he turned the whole administrative process around. That’s leadership,” said Hatch.
Hatch thinks that the presidential election will turn out the way he hopes. “I believe Romney is going to win. When people saw him debating the president they realized that this is a man who looks presidential, acts presidential, speaks presidential, and has the brains and financial background to do something to bring this country out of its doldrums,” he added.
Heller commented on the problems in America and Nevada saying “We truly need to get this country back on track. We are talking about a state here in Nevada where we have the highest unemployment, some of the highest foreclosures, and highest bankruptcies. It’s tough: you go down Main Street and see these businesses that are closing. I want to see more grand openings.” Heller said he also believes that we need a change in the White House. “Governor Romney does have a plan, and that plan is to create 12 million jobs next year. We haven’t gotten probably two and a half million out of this president. In fact there are less people employed today than four years ago. Something has to change,” he said.
After the speeches, the candidates got on the Romney/Ryan bus and headed for Las Vegas.