Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney tried to clearly distinguish himself from President Barack Obama this morning on FOX & Friends, citing President Barack Obama’s failed economic record.
“This is a tough time for the people of America,” Romney said. “But if you are a campaign contributor to Barack Obama, your business may stand to get billions of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the government. I think it’s wrong. I think it stinks to high heaven and I think the administration has to explain how it is they would consider giving money to campaign contributors’ businesses.”
Romney’s comments echo that of Romney Campaign Senior Adviser, Ed Gillespie, who said in a conference call Monday that the president’s criticisms of Romney were just a distraction from the real issues.
“President Obama has not fulfilled his promise of a sense of change in Washington,” said Gillespie.
However, negative campaigning by the Obama campaign seems to have taken its toll on the public’s perception of Romney. A new Rasmussen Poll released today shows that despite Romney’s consistent message on the economy, President Obama’s message on Bain Capital has Americans split down the middle at 41 percent each on whether Romney’s time at Bain is seen as a negative or positive.
Democrat’s latest attacks on Romney portray him as a tax cheat, and, in a worse case scenario, someone who might have even committed a felony.
Recently, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz caused more of a stir in the media by calling on Romney to release his tax forms for 2011.
Other attacks on Romney portrayed him as a “vulture” capitalist, even by fellow Republicans.
But Gillespie tried to get the conversation back to the economy Monday morning, saying that a President Romney would let the free market work and end much of the crony capitalism that has been going on with the Obama Administration.
“People don’t want to see an economy where it is not what you know but who you know.”
Gillespie said the Obama campaign is trying to make the campaign about small issues, which he called the: “pursue the shiny objects strategy.”
“Romney has a plan to get the economy moving again, and President Obama does not.”
