Romney turns Campaign Stop into Storm Relief Rally

In a class move by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a scheduled campaign event turned into something quite different. In an effort to lend a hand to the victims of Hurricane Sandy, Romney’s Tuesday campaign stop in Ohio turned into a relief rally with many in attendance bringing food and other needed supplies.

At a campaign event on Monday in Ohio, Romney told those in attendance to do what they could to help those hurt by Hurricane Sandy:

But Romney didn’t stop with just words. As reported by Holly Bailey of Yahoo! News, Romney turned what would have been a Tuesday campaign event into a storm relief rally:

There was no Kid Rock playing on the loudspeakers, and the campaign signs were gone, replaced by a giant American flag. But Mitt Romney’s “storm relief event” held at a local athletic complex here still had some of the trappings of a regular campaign rally, from the biographical Romney video to the woman in the crowd who wore a shirt that read, “Obama, You’re Fired.”

It also featured the same celebrity guests, including Randy Owen, the lead singer of the country group Alabama, who performed after Romney spoke.

But the Republican nominee still tried to cast a non-political tone, scrapping his usual stump speech in favor of remarks in which he spoke of those “suffering” and “hurting” in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

“You can’t always solve all the problems yourself, but you can make the difference in the life of one or two people as a result of one or two people making an effort,” Romney said as he stood on a plastic equipment box in front of hundreds of stacked cans.

The story notes that Romney’s remarks lasted about five minutes, and then he spent time “helping supporters pack up cans in boxes to send to the storm zone.”

Here are some remarks from Romney during the event:

A new Gallup Poll shows Romney opening up a 6-point lead nationally over Obama. How the storm affects voter turnout remains to be seen, but Romney’s show of compassion for the storm victims should not go unnoticed.