COAL TOWNSHIP - A township man is working to get Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney elected after having a chance meeting with him a year ago at a McDonald's.
Gabriel Beaulieu met the former Massachusetts governor during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. He found the candidate to be very personable and hopes Romney is elected to the nation's highest office in a few weeks.
"He worked very hard to get Massachusetts back on track, and I know he could do the same for the United States," Beaulieu said Monday via phone from the Romney/Ryan campaign office in Scranton.
A student at Susquehanna University at the time, Beaulieu was vice president of the college's GOP Club and was in Washington a day ahead of the rest of the members. After checking into their hotel rooms, he and another individual decided to get some breakfast at a nearby McDonald's.
"We were discussing the day's events and how I wanted to listen to Mitt Romney speak, because I had been impressed with his work in the 2008 primaries," Beaulieu said.
As Beaulieu was deciding on what to eat, Romney came up to the counter, asking for more syrup, then returning to a meal with his wife, Ann.
"He was just sitting there, no Secret Service, nothing," Beaulieu said. "Just him and his wife, eating breakfast."
After getting his meal, Beaulieu made the brave move of taking the seat next to the Romneys.
"I wasn't shy about it, but I waited until he swallowed his food and then stuck my hand out and introduced myself," he said. "We started to make small talk and he invited us to slide our table over and join them."
Beaulieu said they discussed his schooling and other topics. Before they parted ways, Ann Romney used the Coal Township man's camera and snapped a picture of Beaulieu with Mitt.
"He was a very nice guy," Beaulieu said. "He will be a great leader for this country," he said, citing his work as a businessman and governor.
"Being a business man, he knows how to create jobs," he said. "As governor, he kept every promise he made and left Massachusetts with a $2 million rainy day fund in their budget. He will be the one that will get America back on his feet."