Natalie Portman.. who has ties to the Tri-State.. stopped today at the Museum Center at Union Terminal. It's a role Portman took on in 2008 as well. Local 12 News Reporter Jeff Hirsh says Portman is focusing on getting women to the polls. "And so we really see a stark difference between a President who wants to expand our middle class through education, and a candidate, Mitt Romney, who wants to expand it through trickle down economics."
Natalie Portman, who won an Academy Award for the movie Black Swan, came back to the city where her mother grew up and where her grandmother still lives to rally for Barack Obama. "For me, I feel so strongly that the kind of country I want my son to grow up in is one that President Obama's vision will shape."
Portman, and others like former Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland, described that vision as friendly to the middle class ... with lower taxes for them, and a tax increase for the wealthy. Portman said the President has made student loans more affordable, scholarships more available, and health care more accessible and equitable.
She also said the President stands for a woman's right to choose ... in stark contrast to the Republicans. "Paul Ryan co-sponsored a bill with Akin, the Congressman who made those comments about rape, they sponsored a bill using the term forcible rape for the first time, to distinguish between types of rape because we know some rapes are not forcible, which makes no sense."
Portman also pointed out how important Ohio will be in choosing the next President and how important women will be in making that determination. The women here were urged to go door to door, making sure people register and vote because election day is 48 days away. Actually in Ohio it's just 13 days away because early voting starts October second.
About 300 people attended the rally ... filling the Museum Center auditorium.
Republicans agree on the importance of Ohio .. .but see the issues differently, saying Obama supporters like Natalie Portman are ignoring the nation's eight per cent unemployment rate. Says Maggie Wuellner, the Hamilton County GOP Finance Director, "It surprises me that abortion is something she would talk about. This race is about the economy and jobs. I don't hear much about abortion I this race and there's a reason for that. Look at what's happening to the American worker right now."
Republicans are also focusing on the women's vote. Tomorrow night, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao will visit the Romney campaign office in Kenwood for a "Women for Mitt" call night.
