Ryan Hits Obama on Defense, Energy Policy in Virginia

Our pork tastes so much better than their pork

Paul Ryan began a two-day push-back in Virginia Tuesday, trying to stop a Republican slide in two statewide polls in the past week by hammering President Barack Obama over job losses and energy policy.

The Republican vice-presidential nominee addressed a standing-room-only crowd of about 1,700 roaring conservatives at Christopher Newport University, then headed 200 miles to the west to try it again early Wednesday in Danville, a once-thriving tobacco and textile town that has fallen on hard times during the past 20 years.

Ryan took advantage of the day's headlines to capitalize on the stagnant economy, an issue that remains a burden for Obama. Alpha Natural Resources on Tuesday disclosed that it is closing mines in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania and eliminating 1,200 jobs. Ryan blamed what he called Obama's "war on coal" on the Environmental Protection Agency.