crowds of g.o.p. voters to his rallies. this is an overflow crowd of 4,000 people packed in the gym at the high school in virginia. early today, he was here, 14 miles north of richmond. and he touts the romney and ryan plan not middle class promising to create 12 million jobs across the country in four years. at each stop, ryan has taken to specifying how many jobs will be created in the very state he is speaking. in ohio yesterday, ryan promised 452,000 jobs. for virginia, today, that figure was 345,000 jobs. more than half of our jobs come from these small businesses what is the president doing? more regulations, more uncertainty, more borrowing, more spending, more taxing, and more teleprompters.
we had to add that. this is part of building the economy by strengthening the middle-class and doing that from the middle class out in contrast to the approach advocated by republicans which is to essentially extend and expand tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and expect those benefits to trickle down for everyone else. reporter: that was the deputy white house press secretary in washington. the romney and ryan campaign disclosed since congressman ryan was added to the g.o.p. ticket on saturday, also here in virginia, the campaign has taken in almost 125,000 donations online and raised $10.2 million. the average donation was a modest $81. there are a lot of small donors and two-thirds of those giving were giving for the first time. aides to representative ryan call virginia the scene of the line, a reference to president
of virginia which could decide who wins the white house. that fact is not lost on the republican lawmaker speaking to visitors outside of richmond. virginia is a very important ate. you have heard it from everybody. this is a state that i have spent lots of time hunting and fishing in. that is the thing i like to do. this is a state that has it all. this is a state that will determine all. we have a clear choice. rick: he has been helping the campaign raise money with a fundraiser tonight. james is live in springfield, virginia, with more. james? reporter: as we await representative ryan here at west springfield high school in northernvirginia, he continues to assail president obama across a broad array of issues from jobs, to medicare, to the $16 trillion debt as he continues to draw huge and enthusiastic
obama s now famous comments in virginia last month, on friday 13, when he told small business owners if you have a small business you didn t build that. you can be sure we will hear more about this at west springfield high school in northern virginia. rick: now more on the back-and-forth on the fundraising and tax returns with a national political reporter. it seemed after the ryan announcement the headlines were changes. there was not a lot of talking about the governor s tax returns but we are now back to the tax returns. guest: you are right. people say that part of the reason that governor romney chose to announce the pick of ryan when he did was to turn the page and change the narrative away from the tax run issue. of course, the obama campaign got traction on that. just this afternoon, after lots of newspapers in battle ground states around the country covered mitt romney s answer and