The Tea Party Express and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich brought their conservative message to San Diego on Thursday, less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
Gingrich is touring the country under his American Solutions banner. He told a large crowd at Tuna Harbor Park downtown that he is focused on electing candidates who will help create new jobs. He said his message is simple.
"Job killing policies kill jobs," Gingrich said. "I know it's only five words; we're trying to figure out whether Vice President Biden could get all the way through this."
Gingrich also called the Democrats the "party of food stamps" while selling the Republicans as the "party of paychecks." He did not say if he's running for president in 2012, but he did say he would make a decision by next spring.
President Barack Obama was also on the West Coast on Thursday, in his case, wooing women voters.
In Seattle on Thursday, Obama told local women and others that "how well women do will help determine how well our families are doing as a whole." Accompanied by women who own businesses, he spoke in a family's backyard about the economy's effects on women and outlined ways he said his policies have helped them.
Later, trying to rekindle the enthusiasm of his presidential race, he all but ordered thousands of cheering supporters at a packed University of Washington arena to get out and vote, even though he's not on the ballot.
