By BOB LEWIS
AP Political Writer
LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - Paul Ryan hopped out of a big, black pickup truck and rocked a conservative Virginia Bible-belt crowd by accusing President Barack Obama of weakening the nation's military.
Ryan blasted Obama for supporting the same debt-reduction deal a year ago that he advocated on the House floor last year.
He said Obama is projecting weakness for the nation, emboldening enemies and frightening allies.
It delighted a crowd authorities estimated at 3,000 people gathered on a hillside under a sunny sky on a crisp fall day in Lynchburg, the heart of the Falwell family's evangelical empire.
Ryan was referring to the August 2011 deficit reduction act that required a bipartisan committee to find $1.5 trillion in savings or have $1.2 trillion automatically cut from the budget in January, half from defense.
