BOW -- Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney set aside political rhetoric at a local lumberyard Friday to focus on the tragic shooting in Colorado, decrying the “hateful act” and asking Americans to comfort the families of the victims and each other.

“Each one of us will hold our kids a little closer, linger a bit longer with a colleague or a neighbor, reach out to a family member or friend. We'll all spend a little less time thinking about the worries of our day, and more time wondering about how to help those who are in need of compassion most,” a somber Romney told about 250 supporters who quietly gathered at Coastal Forest Products, Inc.'s facility on Dunklee Road.

What had been planned as a rousing campaign rally focusing on jobs and the economy _ and no doubt laden with criticism of President Barack Obama _ was instead a quiet, reflective gathering focused on the Aurora, Colo., tragedy. Romney stopped in Bow on his way to his home in Woleboro, where he planned to spend the weekend before heading to England, Israel and Poland next week.

Obama, who was in Florida, also turned his attention away from the campaign Friday.

“There are going to be other days for politics,” Obama told supporters at a previously scheduled campaign event in Fort Myers, which he cut short. “This, I think, is a day for prayer and reflection.”

Romney, after speaking for about five minutes in Bow, shook hands or exchanged hugs with everyone in the crowd, who lined up as they exited the brief event. There were no campaign signs or the loud music that customarily marks political rallies, just two large American flags.

Romney called it “a very sad day. Our hearts break with the sadness of this unspeakable tragedy. Ann and I join the President and First Lady and all Americans in offering our deepest condolences to those whose lives were shattered in a few moments of evil in Colorado.

“I stand before you today not as a man running for office, but as a father, a grandfather, a husband, an American,” Romney said. “This is a time for each of us to look into our hearts and remember how much we love one another, how much we love and how much we cherish our great country.

“There is so much love and goodness in the heart of America,” he said. “Our hearts break for the victims and their families.”

Romney said that while Americans may feel helpless, “There is something we can do. We can offer comfort to someone near us who is suffering.

“Our prayer is that the Comforter might bring the peace to their souls that surpasses our understanding,” the former Massachusetts governor said. “The Apostle Paul explained, 'Blessed be God who comforteth us in all our tribulations that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble.'

“What we do know is how evil is overcome,” he said. “We're seeing that greater power today in the goodness and compassion of a wounded community. Grieving and worried families in Aurora are surrounded with love today, and not just by those who are with them and holding them in their arms.

“They can also know that they are being lifted up in prayer by people in every part of our great nation. Now and in the hard days to come may every one of them feel the sympathy of our whole nation and the comfort of a living God.

“There will be justice for those responsible,” Romney said. “That is another matter for another day.”

Now, he said, is a time “to grieve and to remember, to reach out and to help, to appreciate our blessings in life.

“We will show our fellow citizens the good heart of the America we know and love,” Romney said.

Fr. Christian Tutor of the All Saints Anglican Church in Concord, was called on to lead a prayer at the event before Romney spoke.

He prayed for “comfort to all who mourn, to all those who are in sorrow, to all those who are searching for a reason” for the tragedy.

He asked for “peace to all of us and to unite our nation.”

Sen. Kelly Ayotte introduced “my friend Mitt Romney” after saying, “We come before you today with very, very heavy hearts.” She conveyed “the thoughts and prayers from the people of New Hampshire” to the victims and their families.

“That's why we are here today, to come together as a community and to offer our condolences.”