President Obama, Mitt Romney deliver campaign speeches on the economy
President Barack Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney will deliver remarks on the economy at a pair of campaign events in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday.
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Obama hopes to use his campaign speech at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland today to try to bounce back from setbacks over the last week -- namely, an anemic jobs report and a misstep in which he seemed to play down the economy's woes by saying the private sector was "doing fine." -
A campaign aide said Obama's remarks had been in the works for weeks, with the president trying to reset the election-year narrative as he kicks off an intensive schedule of summer campaigning, Caren Bohan and Laura MacInnis report. The speech will be the first in a series in which he will try to frame the choice in the election.
"The more time he spends talking about his vision for how we get out of this morass long term, the better off he is," said Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress and a former policy adviser to Obama and President Bill Clinton. -
Yesterday, the GOP released an ad accusing Obama of promising, and failing, "for years" to focus on jobs and predicting that his speech today will be just that -- "another speech, but no new proposals."
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Romney, who is speaking at a competing event in Cincinnati at 1:50pm, predicted that Obama "will speak eloquently but that words are cheap."
"He is not responsible for whatever improvement we might be seeing," Romney said. "Instead he's responsible for the fact that it has taken so long to see this recovery, and the recovery is so tepid." -
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week found that Obama's job performance dropped from 50 a month ago to 47 -- the lowest it's been since January.
The doubts about Obama's leadership helped Romney pull to within 1 point of the president - 45 percent to 44 percent - among registered voters. Obama led by 7 points a month ago.
More poll results -
Will Obama invoke George W. Bush in his speech?
The Obama campaign has frequently said that Romney would revive Bush's policies, including lax financial regulation and budget-busting tax cuts that set the stage for economic crisis, Caren Bohan and Laura MacInnis report.
And a Gallup poll released today showed that about two-thirds of Americans believe Bush was responsible for the economy's woes.
About 68 percent said Bush deserves a "moderate amount" or a "great deal" of the blame for the troubled economy versus 52 percent who pointed to Obama.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Larry Downing -
Democrats familiar with the preparations for the address say that Obama is unlikely to unveil new ideas to boost the economy and create new jobs. Rather, he will argue that Romney is the one lacking ideas, Andy Sullivan, Caren Bohan and Laura MacInnis report.
"The president has already laid out his vision in terms of what steps he thinks this Congress needs to take. Mitt Romney has not," said Jen Psaki, a former White House aide. "It's not a lack of plans or lack of vision. It's a lack of action by Congress."
Photo credit: REUTERS/Jason Reed -
Ahead of the president's speech, the Romney campaign released a video hitting Obama for his remark last week that the private sector is "doing fine."
"How can President Obama fix our economy if he doesn't understand it's broken?" the ad asks. -
If potus tells Wintour "watch this drive," this thing might be over.by samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 4:08:34 PM -
RT @ZekeJMiller: Obama aide on Romney bus: "that's not our style," adds "campaigns are a reflection of the candidate." www.buzzfeed.comby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 4:36:05 PM
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It feels like Romney is trying to do to potus what Shooter did to Happy with Joe Flahertyby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 4:36:59 PM
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If Obama does return to Bush-bashing, Romney might be challenged by the company he keeps. In the long-ago month of March, Reuters looked at the many Bush allies who have come to advise Romney.
One former Bush speechwriter called the Romney campaign, "a restoration of the Bush establishment." -
RT @Sarah_Boxer: Ohio unemployment in April 2009: 10%. April 2012: 7.4% #campaign2012by samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:03:26 PM
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At the rate we're going, I fear this could be the first presidential election where the campaigns deploy whoopee cushionsby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:13:20 PM
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The timing of these two speeches is very important. Don't worry, unemployed America. We got this cc: @OKnoxby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:25:30 PM
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"I didn't know whether there were chairs here. There are. That's good." Romneyby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:38:32 PM
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Romney thanks Kasich and Portman (neither here) for helping him win Ohio primaryby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:40:06 PM
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"Talk is cheap." Romneyby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:40:33 PM
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"Go ask business people," Romney on whether potus has made things better or worseby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:43:02 PM
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Romney again refers to U.S. Chamber survey on Obamacare. Probably a safe citationby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:43:55 PM
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"Talk to the oil people. They'll tell you that he put a moratorium on drilling in the gulf." Romneyby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:45:29 PM
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"Guess how many trade agreements our president's negotiated. None. None." Romney. None must be Latin for threeby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:47:22 PM
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"If you think things are going swimmingly, if you think the president was right when he said the private sector was doing fine" Romneyby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:48:16 PM
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"I want to make sure they did a good job the first time, and if they didn't, I want to get somebody else." Romneyby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:48:52 PM
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Romney keeps up his tough talk on China. Helpful primer? Worth reading this week's Reuters report on a time when the former Massachusetts governor was more bullish on the Asian powerhouse.
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Danger zone. When Romney talks about his doctor or house painter, he veers into the area where he once said "I like being able to fire ppl"by samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:49:30 PM
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Romney: "You call that forward? That's forward over a cliff. That's forward on the way to Greece." #theGwordby ewstephe via twitter 6/14/2012 5:53:37 PM -
Always like when Romney gets to break out his French with the word, "entrepreneur."by sampjacobs via twitter 6/14/2012 5:54:03 PM
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Ohioans must be rooting for Portman. Two Rubio mentions in two days and no applause. That is unusual.by samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:55:14 PM
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In Ohio speech, Romney brings back a line that he would declare China a currency manipulator.by Steve Holland via twitter 6/14/2012 5:55:23 PM -
"I know what caused them to leave, and I know what will bring them back." Romney on bizby samyoungman via twitter 6/14/2012 5:57:56 PM
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Romney staying firmly on message: “For me it’s all about good jobs for the American people and a bright and prosperous future.”by Steve Holland via twitter 6/14/2012 5:58:42 PM
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Obama: "There's one place where I stand in complete agreement with my opponent: this election is about our economic future."by ReutersPolitics via twitter 6/14/2012 6:06:37 PM
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Obama: "This is a make or break moment for America's middle class"by Eric Johnson via twitter 6/14/2012 6:07:15 PM
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He says there will be other gaffes in the campaign by him and others that will give the press plenty to write aboutby carenbohan via twitter 6/14/2012 6:08:01 PM -
Obama: "What's holding us back is a stalemate in Washington...this election is your chance to break that stalemate."by ewstephe via twitter 6/14/2012 6:08:02 PM
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Obama tells Ohio voters the November election is a chance to break a "stalemate" over competing economic visionsby carenbohan via twitter 6/14/2012 6:08:17 PM
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Obama: this is a huge election over competing visions -- a choice between two paths for our countryby Eric Johnson via twitter 6/14/2012 6:08:26 PM
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