President Barack Obama's re-election campaign Thursday is launching a major initiative to focus on veterans and military families, preparing in battleground states for a fight against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
Obama's campaign is holding a conference call featuring Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden and a veteran of the Iraq war. The call will also include Obama For America National Veterans & Military Families Outreach Director Rob Diamond.
The outreach effort is being named Veterans and Military Families for Obama.
"President Obama is committed to ensuring that all of our men and women who have served in uniform can find work when they return home, receive the health care and benefits they've earned, and have the chance to get a college education through the post-9/11 GI Bill," the Obama campaign said in a press release. "As our nation's servicemen and women return home from war, now more than ever we must fulfill our duty to them."
The release went on to attack Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., for proposing "deep domestic spending cuts" that would impact veterans by $11 billion per year. Other cuts to federal housing programs and health care would also jeopardize benefits and medical services, the campaign said.
"To put it simply: [Romney] lacks the foreign policy judgment and vision necessary to be President. He touts his plans to get us into wars but offers no plans to end them," the release said.
Specifically, the outreach effort will involve get-out-the-vote efforts in 16 swing states, including a central campaign event in the military town of Norfolk, Virginia.
The Republican National Committee has launched a pre-emptive counter-attack that takes aim at Obama's stewardship of the economy.
"Obama's policies have made it harder for veterans to find jobs, his budget would require military families to pay more for their healthcare, and his proposed defense cuts will have detrimental effects for veterans and military families in Virginia," said RNC spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger.
She added, "After all they've sacrificed, America's veterans and their families deserve more than failed promises from their President."
by RTT Staff Writer
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