Romney at rally: I will not cut military spending

A rally for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan was conducted this afternoon at the Wright Brothers Aero Hangar at the Dayton International Airport. The following are notes about what occurred there.

@3:54 p.m.: Romney finishes speaking to crowd at the Dayton International Airport near the Wright Brothers Aero hangar.

@3:47 p.m.: Romney continues speaking and tells the crowd trade is good for the country. "China has cheated … I will not allow that to continue," he says.

@3:38 p.m.: "I will not cut our military spending," Romney tells the crowd. He goes on to say Obama did not keep promises he made in his 2008 campaign for president. "His idea now … he's got one new idea … to raise taxes," Romney said. "Is there anyone that thinks raising taxes will help the economy?" The crowd says, "No."

@3:36 p.m.: Mitt Romney begins speaking to the crowd. Asks them to chant, "Romney, Ryan; Romney, Ryan; Romney, Ryan …"

@3:35 p.m.: Ryan pauses for a moment while the crowd begins to chant, "Romney, Romney, Romney …"

@3:33 p.m.: "This is the man who knows how to do turnarounds," Ryan says of Mitt Romney. "We need leadership … someone who will not blame other people for the next four years. … That's this man right here," Ryan says. "This is a man who knows how the economy works because he's created over 10,000 jobs."

@3:27 p.m.: Paul Ryan speaks to the crowd. "We cannot afford four more years of President Obama's failed policies," he says. Mitt Romney has "proven policies to get the country back on track," he said. "Gas, oil, coal, renewables, all of the above, it's here, it's ours … on Day 1 you know what he's going to do? He's going to say 'yes' to the Keystone Pipeline."

@3:24 p.m.: Sen. Rand Paul takes the stage and asks, "Anybody here think it's time for a new President? Anybody here mortified to see people burning the American flag?"

@3:20 p.m.: Sen. Rob Portman asks the crowd how many have an absentee ballot and will be voting that way. Asks that people spread the message to vote. "We need their vote and we need it now," he says. "There are a thousand Delphi workers here in the Miami valley that were left behind by the Obama administration," he says. "The Delphi workers deserve our support, don't they?" Portman asked.

@3:09 p.m. Romney's plane and Ryan's bus have arrived at the rally. Ryan, Rand Paul, Romney and Portman take the stage together.

@2:50 p.m.: DeWine tells the crowd Romney is en route to the rally and will be there soon. Music resumes, kicking off with a Rascal Flatts song, and the crowd is waiting.

@2:44 p.m.: DeWine said, "O-H!" and the crowd chanted back, "I-O!" as he spoke. He encouraged voters to email and text friends and family to encourage them to vote for Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. "Imagine the difference," he said. "Let's look at judges," he said. "If Barack Obama is sitting in the White House four years from now … he will have changed the complexion of the United States Supreme Court for decades. … is that what we want?" He asked. The crowd shouted back, "No!" The decision for president "will come down to Ohio," DeWine told the crowd.

@2:43 p.m.: Congressman Mike Turner and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine are addressing the crowd. Turner gave a "shout out" to those who attended the same high school he did. he asked, "Who's going to control the out-of-control spending in Washington … and who are we going to greet with a warm Ohio welcome?" The crowd shouted, "Romney."

@2:36 p.m.: Ohio Senator Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering, is speaking to the crowd.

@2:33 p.m.: A fifth-grader is leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. @2:30 p.m.: Ohio Auditor Dave Yost introduces a pastor from a church who led the group in prayer. It is followed by a singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

@2:15 p.m.: Country music singer Lee Greenwood is singing for the crowd of hundreds at the event near the Wright Brothers Aero hangar at the Dayton International Airport.

@1 p.m.: Vendors are hawking T-shirts, hats, buttons and more, both along McCauley Drive and inside the airplane hangar. The Romney-Ryan plane is out on the tarmac, near where the speech is to be delivered.

@ Noon: Doors open to the public.

@11 a.m.: Attendees are lined up outside along McCauley Drive to get through security checks. Several local Republican candidates, including Ohio Rep. Jim Butler and Montgomery County commission candidate Dave Vore are campaigning outside the event. Outside the entrance to the event two people in reindeer costumes waved signs. One said "Romney Fire Half of the Reindeer" and the other "Romney Bankrupted KB Toys, Stage Dept. and North Pole." They were playing off a quote from former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month when he said if Mitt Romney were Santa Claus he would "fire the reindeer" and "outsource the elves."

@9:30 a.m.: Secret Service, Dayton Regional Bomb Squad and other agencies are putting security measures in place.