Romney returns to economic issues in Virginia

• Romney highlights shuttered businesses in the Commonwealth
• He says regulations and taxes are crushing businesses
• Polls show Obama and Romney neck-and-neck in Virginia

DOSWELL, Va. – Mitt Romney used his three stops in Virginia Thursday to return the presidential campaign to its most enduring theme: the economy.

After several days dominated by talk of Superstorm Sandy, Romney hit hard on economic themes, pointing to indicators like high gas prices and downfall of a local business to illustrate why Obama is the wrong choice for voters next week.

While the unemployment rate here remains well below the national average at 5.9%, Romney made the case that closures of businesses like Bill's Barbecue in Richmond, showed the trajectory that Obama's policies would bring if he is re-elected.

Romney stopped by one of the shuttered restaurants on his way to his second stop of the day and said the owner told him that "taxes, federal regulations and …Obamacare" caused her to shut down.

"Those three things are crushing small businesses across America," he said.

The campaign also released an ad Thursday featuring a tearful owner of the chain, explaining the pain of having to shut down the more than 80-year-old business.

At his stop in Roanoke, Romney stressed the importance of domestic energy production in Virginia and accused the president of "stalling" on the issue. Virginia is one of 25 coal-producing states in the US.

"There is a lot of energy used in the lumber products arena, making fiberglass, assembling these products, manufacturing them," he said.

"When energy costs are lower, then we are able to create more manufacturing jobs. And that's why it's so critical."

Two of the three stops of the tour, Roanoke County and Doswell, are in largely Republican areas, where a high turnout will be key part to a Romney victory in the state. Romney's third stop was in Virginia Beach, an area Sen. John McCain won narrowly in 2008.

Polls here show Romney edging Obama by half a percentage point, 47.9% to 47.5%, according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent surveys.

The Romney campaign has confidently talked up their Virginia ground game, boasting of broader organization and outreach than their Democratic counterparts.

Rich Beeson, Romney's political director, said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday the campaign was already over-performing in parts of the state McCain won in 2008.

"Virginia continues to be very strong on the turn out in Republican counties," he said, adding that they are also performing especially well in coal country. "Virginia is clearly moving our way."

But Thursday's first two rallies were strikingly smaller than similar events just two weeks ago – with large empty spaces and crowds totaling no more than 2,500 – a stark contrast to the droves that attended rallies in places like Chesapeake and Leesburg following Romney's successful performance in the presidential debates. The final rally, at an amphitheater in Virginia Beach on Thursday evening, was significantly larger than the earlier events.

The campaign attributed the smaller numbers to the fact the events had to be re-schedules on short notice after they scrapped their Virginia swing on Sunday because of Sandy.

Romney mentioned the rescheduling challenges during his final campaign stop where the campaign estimate 6,000 supporters showed up.

"I guess we just gave you notice yesterday that we were going to be here tonight and the fact that you've turned out in such -- in such a response as this is overwhelming," he said. "I appreciate it It's a great sign. Thank you."

Romney has spent several weeks painting the president as short on ideas, a message that continued in the commonwealth on Thursday as he launched a new attack on Obama's agenda, mocking the president's suggestion earlier this week that several Cabinet agencies that oversee commercial activity should be merged into one.

"I just don't think another Cabinet chair is going to create the jobs that America needs and so I'm entitled to make sure that we get a president that understands business as opposed to tries to hire someone in the Cabinet that has a background in business," Romney said.

Romney was briefly interrupted by a protester here, who unfurled a banner near the beginning of his speech that read "End Climate Silence" and yelled at the Republican nominee.

As he was removed from the venue, he shouted "Climate changed caused Sandy" as Romney supporters attempted to drown him out with chants of "USA! USA!"