Tagg Romney visited young Republicans in Boone Thursday to paint a portrait of his father, presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as an effective leader and a good man.

“That’s my primary message as his son,” Tagg Romney said to a full room at Dan’l Boone Inn, where Young Americans for Romney hosted a breakfast.

The eldest son of Mitt and Ann Romney — a dead ringer for his father, though with more pepper than salt in his hair — hit the North Carolina campaign trail on Wednesday and Thursday to stump for the Republican nominee in the Southern swing state, where recent polling has the presidential candidates neck and neck.

Speaking to Appalachian State University students and others in attendance, Tagg discussed the importance of family to the presidential candidate, recalling a 2010 Christmas gathering in which the family took a vote on whether Romney should attempt another presidential run.

Unlike the family vote prior to 2008, when Romney failed to secure the GOP nomination, all family members except two — Tagg and his mother, Ann — voted “no,” including Mitt himself.

But Ann pushed her husband to reconsider, asking him if he felt he could fix the country’s problems — he did — and if he loved his grandchildren, adding that if he didn’t help them, who would?

“Once my mom decides something, look out,” said Tagg. “He’s doing this because he cares deeply about America. He’s worried about the future we’re leaving behind for your generation.”

Tagg recounted a number of experiences in which his father demonstrated a talent for leadership, concluding, “He is qualified to be president.”

Those experiences include the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, which Tagg said his father turned around from a scandal-ridden operation to an event with a budget surplus. He pointed to Mitt Romney’s election as governor of Massachusetts, a state in which Republicans are a minority. And he told the story of a time when the 14-year-old daughter of Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital partner didn’t come home, and his father launched a full-on search effort with volunteers, a headquarters, a $50,000 reward and an extensive media campaign until the girl was found tied up in a kidnapper’s basement.

“When he see’s a problem, he runs at that problem,” Tagg said. “He is a remarkable person; he gets stuff done.”

Tagg urged the young people in attendance to help his father win North Carolina.

“I know it was really ‘cool’ four years ago to vote for Barack Obama,” he said. “Today it’s not as cool.”

Speaking to the media after his talk, Tagg said he thinks the Romney campaign will win North Carolina, but the campaign isn’t taking anything for granted.

“There’s much more enthusiasm on the Republican side than there was four years ago,” he said. “We’re going all over the state. We think Boone will help us carry North Carolina.”

Tagg Romney’s visit to Boone was preceded by a tour of Cline Christmas Tree Farm in Fleetwood, where he spoke about his father’s plans for immigration policy and small business regulations.

Tagg said his father would remove “burdensome” regulations and “help grow demand” to benefit farmers, and for students, he said, “We need to stop spending money and borrowing money against their future.”

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx and ASU College Republicans Chairwoman Kelsey Crum, both of Foscoe, spoke before Tagg’s remarks.