Questioner at Ryan rally 'outraged' that Obama camp used exchange as 'political tool'

close

Video

Voter becomes pawn in political spin game

Woman who asked Paul Ryan a question at a campaign stop is outraged when featured in Obama ad

A woman who pressed Republican running mate Paul Ryan for details on his and Mitt Romney's tax plan says she's "outraged" that the Obama campaign tried to spin her inquiry for political purposes.

Linda Morrison posed a direct question to Ryan during a Tuesday rally in Clinton, Iowa. Referring to an earlier interview on "Fox News Sunday" in which Ryan had declined to get into specifics about what deductions he and Romney would end in order to finance their plan to cut tax rates, she asked: "Where are the answers? I mean, why aren't you more specific? I heard you, was it Sunday when you were on Fox, and you didn't answer his question about how we're going to -- you know, what are your plans?"

The Obama campaign seized on the question, claiming Ryan "can't attend his own campaign rallies without being called out for failing to provide specifics."

But Morrison, writing in the Quad-City Times, said she wasn't calling anybody out.

"Needless to say, I was quite shocked to learn the Obama campaign seized my question," she wrote. "I was not calling Ryan out. I had the opportunity to ask a direct question to Paul Ryan and what I got was a complete direct answer with no spin."

Morrison wrote that she thought Ryan "was talking directly to me" in his response and she thanked him after the event.

"I left the event feeling satisfied and confident that the Romney/Ryan plan is what our country needs," she wrote. "Today I am outraged that my question is being misrepresented and used as a political tool against the Romney/Ryan campaign by both media and the Obama camp. The question I asked is what we the citizens want to know: How is the Romney/Ryan plan going to tackle this economy? Paul Ryan answered it with precise clarity.

"My next question is to President Barack Obama. What is your specific plan to fix the economy you said you would fix 4 years ago?" she asked.

The Obama campaign has accused Romney of hiding the details of how he'd pay for a "$5 trillion" tax cut, which Obama claims would lopsidedly benefit top earners.

Romney says the $5 trillion estimate is wrong, but claims he can offset a 20 percent rate cut by closing deductions and perhaps letting taxpayers themselves choose which deductions they're willing to lose.