Photo Credit: WVLT-TVKNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan told East Tennessee supporters that this year's election is a chance to change the country's trajectory.
The Wisconsin congressman said at a $1,000-per-plate fundraiser in Knoxville on Thursday that Democratic President Barack Obama's policies have the country headed toward economic crisis similar to what's occurring in some European countries.
Republican Governor Bill Haslam introduced Ryan at the luncheon, and said the event had raised about $1 million for Mitt Romney's presidential bid.
About a dozen protesters lined the street outside the hotel where the event was being held, banging a drum and waving signs criticizing the Republican presidential ticket.
Ryan was headed for Memphis for another fundraiser later Thursday.
It was the first political event in Tennessee for Ryan since he was named to the GOP ticket by presidential nominee Mitt Romney in August.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
