By Sarah Campbell

scampbell@salisburypost.com 

MOORESVILLE — Electrifying, motivating, captivating. 

Those were the words used by Salisbury resident Tom Lynch to describe Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan’s visit to Mooresville this morning. 

“It just renewed the emphasis to everyone that we definitely need a real change,’ he said. 

That quest for change is exactly why Romney brought Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, on board. 

“I have selected this man to be my running mate because I want change in Washington, Romney said to an estimated crowd of 1,700 people. “I don’t want to be like Europe, I want to be like America.” 

Ben Lynch, Tom’s son and vice-chairman of the Rowan County Republican Party, called Romney’s pick of Ryan as his vice presidential candidate an “outstanding choice.” 

“He has leadership and charisma,” he said. “He will really do a great job to pull out the votes of all demographics involved.”

Tom Lynch said Ryan will help “reinforce the conservative base of the Republican party.” 

But Ryan views the upcoming election as less about change and more about choice. 

“We feel as fellow citizens that we owe you a choice,” Ryan said. “We can either stay on the current path we are on, a nation in debt, a nation in despair, a nation of unemployment. … or we can change this thing and get this country back on the right track.”

Romney said Ryan shares his beliefs about restoring American ideals. 

“When the founders help create this country by writing the Declaration of Independence, they said our rights came not from the government, but from the creator,” he said. 

NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip got the crowd pumped up before Romney and Ryan took the stage. 

“I’m jacked up, I’ve got to tell you,” he said. “I had a couple of Mountain Dew before I came out here.”

Waltrip said it’s time to elect a businessman into the White House. 

“This is not a popularity contest, this is at a time in this country where we have to make a change and we’ve go tot get it right this time,” he said. 

Fellow Republicans Richard Hudson, a candidate for North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District; Robert Pittenger, a candidate for the 9th district; state Rep. Patrick McHenry; gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory and U.S. Sen. Richard Burr also opened for Romney and Ryan. 

“Yesterday America saw hope for the first time in three-and-a-half years,” Burr said referring to the announcement that Romney had selected Ryan as his running mate. 

Read the complete story in Monday’s Post. Reporter Sarah Campbell live tweeted the event. View her tweets at twitter.com/posteducation.