Mike Rowe takes 'dirty job' campaigning for Romney but won't mention his name

Discovery Channel personality Mike Rowe joined Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's campaign in Ohio on Wednesday but during at least one campaign speech in Bedford, the "Dirty Jobs" host didn't even bother to utter the candidate's name.

"The first time I was here, I think, was 2004," Rowe said after being introduced by Romney. "I came out here and spent a very long day in the middle of July with the guys over at the Department of Transportation, specifically in their road kill cleanup division. You'll be pleased to know, Ohio, that you do have a road kill cleanup division and they are excellent at what they do. You'll also be pleased to know that the road kill itself here in Ohio is second to none, both in volume and variety."

"I've been assured by the governor and his team that today will not be anywhere near as bloody or smelly as my last time in Ohio," he continued. "I wanted to be here today because the governor invited me. He answered a letter I'd written to a lot of people over the last five or six years."

Rowe said that he had written the letter to Romney because Americans were not paying enough attention to skilled workers who do the type of jobs that others avoid.

"We have to try and reconnect on a level that has nothing to do with the local or national news or whoever happens to wind up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Rowe explained. "The conversation needs to start in the kitchen around the table with moms and dads and kids. And when these kids start to think about what's possible, mothers and fathers can't immediately push options off of the table because they've bought into the idea that some jobs are better than other jobs."

"I'm here as the governor's guest," he concluded. "And to the extent that I can contribute to this conversation, it will be my privilege."

A Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times poll released on Wednesday found that President Barack Obama led Romney by 10 points in Ohio among those who said they were definitely going to vote. The state is critical for Romney because no Republican has ever won the presidency without also winning Ohio.

While the campaign announced on Monday that Rowe had endorse their candidate, Romney admitted on Wednesday that the Discovery Channel star was "not here to endorse me."

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Sept. 26, 2012.