Romney stumps with Mourdock in Indiana

Evansville, Ind. - In a brief appearance, Mitt Romney stumped with Indiana Senate hopeful Richard Mourdock, emphasizing the importance of fiscal responsibility in order to spur growth. "You can't keep spending massively more than you take in without putting America in peril," Romney told a crowd of about 50 people at a local BBQ joint, standing next to Mourdock. "There's only one place in America that doesn't seem to understand that -- and that's Washington. And one reason we're both going there is to change Washington and to make sure that we finally get ourselves on track to a balanced budget." This was the first time both candidates campaigned together, and was an opportunity for Romney to bring some national attention to the upcoming Indiana Senate battle. Mourdock praised Romney as the ultimate "team player" asking the crowd to support his candidacy "to get the country back on track." Romney, in turn, pushed for a Mourdock victory "to make sure that we can not just talk about changing things, but actually have the votes to get things changed." Mourdock -- the Tea-Party backed state Treasurer -- defeated six-term incumbent Sen. Dick Lugar in their May primary after painting him as a Washington insider who lost his way. Romney decided to stay neutral in that race, but other fellow Republicans weighed in -- Sarah Palin and former Senator Rick Santorum (and former Romney rival) backed Mourdock. Their appearance together struck an odd note -- Mourdock consistently campaigned against compromise with Democrats during his Primary battle, while Romney consistently touts his record of working with the heavily Democratic legislature while Governor of Massachusetts. Before leaving, the presumptive GOP nominee ordered pulled chicken.