"Scores of supporters turned up to Mitt Romney's rally-turned-storm relief event in Ohio Monday with supplies to donate to survivors of Superstorm Sandy, but the candidate's campaign was prepared with supplies of their own in case people arrived empty handed."
"Among the neat rows of canned food, bottled water and diapers were supplies purchased by Romney staff and volunteers, filling out what could have been an embarrassing photo-op for the GOP nominee.
'Our campaign, our staff and our volunteers did purchase and donate relief supplies so that they could be sent to a Red Cross center in the area affected by the storm. We don't have a cost assessment on it, but we were definitely grateful for everyone's help and we are happy to do our part for the relief efforts,' Rick Gorka, a Romney campaign spokesman, said Wednesday.
The event, which was originally meant to be a campaign rally but was changed to a 'storm relief event' on Monday evening, was held in a high school gymnasium in Kettering, Ohio. The high-profile supporters originally meant to campaign with Romney at the rally – racecar driver Richard Petty and 'Alabama' lead singer Randy Owen – were both at the relief event, and Romney described the donations from the crowd as a 'cover charge' for seeing Owen perform."
The CNN Political Unit had the story October 31, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"The Making Of Romney's Storm Relief Event" (BuzzFeed Politics)
"Romney Campaign Staged Donations At Storm Relief Event" (Think Progress)
"A $5,000 Shopping Run to Walmart Turned Romney's Campaign Stop into a 'Relief Event'" (Atlantic Wire)
"Reporters Shoot Straight, Destroy Romney's Fake 'Storm Relief' Event" (Daily Kos)
"Romney Ohio Campaign Event Turns Into Storm Relief Effort" (Washington Post/Election 2012 blog)
"MSNBC Ridicules Romney for Collecting Food and Supplies for Sandy Victims" (Newsbusters)
Advertisement 
