PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) -
With the Port of Pascagoula serving as an impressive backdrop, Mitt Romney shook hands and made his way through the crowd. On stage, the former governor and GOP frontrunner picked up a prized, political plum from Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant.
"It is my honor and privilege to endorse my friend, Governor Mitt Romney, as president of the United States." Bryant said.
Romney never mentioned his republican opponents, instead launching into a series of attacks on President Barack Obama.
"He's out of ideas. He's out of excuses. And in 2012, we're going to make sure he's out of office," Romney said.
The president's energy policy came under fire.
"We're going to make sure that we get oil out of Anwar. And we're sure as heck going to make sure that we're going to get that oil out of Canada. Let's get the Keystone pipeline, as well." Romney said.
He also talked about tough times.
"I was with a soldier back from Afghanistan and the company he used to work for had gone out of business," Romney recalled. "He found it hard to get a new job. And he wondered how it could be that in America, after he'd been out fighting and serving our country, it was so hard to come back and find work. A lot of people are hurting right now."
On the president's proposed military cutbacks, Romney promised to reverse course.
"I happen to think that a strong America is the best ally peace has ever known. And I'm going to fight for a strong America," Romney told the crowd. "So I'm going to increase shipbuilding. We're going to go from nine a year to 15 a year in the Navy, and we're going to buy more aircraft. We're also going to add 100,000 active duty personnel."
He also criticized what he called the president's liberal agenda.
"I love America. This is the greatest nation in the history of the earth. And my vision is this: It is not to transform America into something we are not, and nor have ever been. It's to restore to America the principals the founders described in the Declaration of Independence."
Romney will next appear at a rally in Jackson Friday morning. From there, he travels to Alabama to campaign.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich will be at Gulfport High School Friday afternoon, and Rick Santorum plans a rally Sunday evening in Gulfport. Both Gingrich and Santorum will attend an energy conference in Biloxi on Monday.
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