House speaker confident on Romney in Ohio

WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner says that campaigning across his pivotal home state of Ohio has left him confident about Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s chances there.

“It’s all about turnout, and I’ve never seen so many enthused people on our side,” Boehner said Tuesday morning after voting at the Ronald Reagan Lodge in a park in his heavily Republican home area. Dressed in a brightly colored golf sweater, Boehner, who had no Democratic opponent for his seat, talked briefly to reporters.

He said he saw Republicans “energized from one end of the state to the other” during a weekend of campaigning that began Friday night with a huge GOP rally in West Chester Township.

Boehner also said he thinks Americans will vote their wallets, and that Romney has economic issues on his side. He also is confident about House races, saying the only question is how big the GOP majority will be.

“We’ve had no cooperation from the Senate, no cooperation from the White House,” Boehner said. “The president gets elected to lead our country, and what we really need today is leadership. And I think Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can bring that leadership that America is really hungry for.”

And if President Barack Obama wins a second term, Boehner said, “regardless of what happens, when the American people speak, I’ll play the hand I’m dealt.”