Romney Gains Endorsement During Londonderry Stop

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney joked on Tuesday that he thought he was going to come by and "say hi to a couple of people in a restaurant" during a visit to The Coach Stop in Londonderry.

What he got was a packed banquet room of over 100 visitors, dozens more outside and a ringing endorsement from a local state senator.

That senator was Sharon Carson, R-Londonderry, who announced her support for Romney's presidential campaign before the former Massachusetts governor spoke.

"I believe Governor Romney has a vision for this country – for the future of our country – that is so important right now," said Carson. We've gone through four years of turmoil, of false promise, and we need a candidate that we can believe in (and) who will do what he says he is going to do."

Carson's backing came after a short address by U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who has previously endorsed Romney.

In a brief speech following the two New Hampshire politicians, Romney said how America is "at a kind of crossroads."

"We have a president who has a very different view of what America should be than the view of the patriot dream that sees beyond the years," said Romney.

He went on to knock President Obama's "dramatic changes" to the country, bashing the new health care system, financial regulatory reform excluding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and his borrowing of trillions of dollars.

That said, Romney did promise that he will work with Democrats if elected.

But before those comments Romney started off on a cheerful note, wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and telling those in attendance that he was thinking about a song recently. 

What he quoted after that was "America the Beautiful."

"I love that song," said Romney. "'Oh beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain.' We don't have a lot of amber waves of grain here but we do have spacious skies here in New Hampshire."

He also fielded a few questions from the crowd, including one man who asked him about his immigration policy.

The man offered the former governor an analogy on Newt Gingrich's statement that an illegal immigrant should be allowed to stay in the United States if they have been living in the country 25 years or more.

"If a bank robber is robbing banks for 25 years, why not let him continue?" asked the man.

Romney answered that we need to secure the border with a fence and a system to allow employers to "know immediately" who is legal and who is illegal.

"We stop the employment of people who are here illegally," said Romney, "and then for those that have come here illegally, I'd give them some transition period but allow them to go home and get back in line and apply for a permanent residency here just like everybody else that wants to come here legally."

Romney also fielded a question on voter identification laws, saying that he believes in one person, one vote and that people should be identified at the polls. 

"If other people are fraudulently casting votes, that takes away my right to have my vote counted as a full vote, so that's one more lawsuit I'd end," said Romney.

This statement came after Attorney General Eric Holder recently blocked a voter identification law in South Carolina. 

Several local politicians came out for the breakfast, including Rep. Mary Griffin, R-Windham, who was acknowledged by Ayotte.

Amherst resident Ken Bury said he was seeing Romney for the first time this election cycle. Like many in the room, he was wearing a sticker to support Romney's campaign.

Bury spoke of how Romney is a good candidate to turn around a discouraged American mindset.

"You hear Governor Romney talk about what he feels his vision is for the country, which I agree with and I feel that he can make it happen." said Bury.

Bury said that Romney made it happen on the state level and he is confident that he can do so on the national level.

As for the Jan. 10 Primary, Bury said that it's important for Romney to win since this is his region.

"It's sort of a local boy type of thing, and I think that yes it is important that he wins and I think he really can," said Bury.

Local resident Andreas Reis wasn't able to get into the packed room, saying that he wished it could've been in a bigger venue, but didn't fault Romney.

"It is what it is," said Reis.

Not all were in favor of the presidential candidate during the Londonderry visit. Joe Bramante, who was outside holding a "1 percent Mitt" sign, was the lone protestor, referring to himself as "Joe the Horse Dentist" as an homage to "Joe the Plumber."

A Derry resident and registered independent, he said that it's Romney's prerogative to visit anywhere and that he respects that, but the "rich people" can't lead the country any longer.

"When the rich people run the country the working people take it in the neck," Bramante said.

He added that he doesn't know who he's going to vote for but that he "favors the current president" at this point.

Romney will be well fed today, as he will be in Portsmouth for a meet-and-greet at 12 p.m. That will take place at Geno's Chowder and Sandwich Shop.