Obama, Romney refocus on economy

Associated Press

RENO, Nev.

The presidential candidates tried to put aside politically risky talk of gay rights Friday and return to Americans’ top worry, the economy, in two states critical to the hopes of President Barack Obama and his rival Mitt Romney.

Obama discussed how to help homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure in hard-hit Nevada, while Romney was focusing on jobs in North Carolina — more evidence that each views the sluggish economic recovery as the key issue in November’s election.

For both, it was a day to move past the week’s back-and-forth on gay marriage, punctuated by Obama’s announcement that he now supports it. Romney, who reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage repeatedly, was distracted by a news report that led him to apologize for decades ago mistreating a high-school classmate who was gay.

“There are things that we can do right now to help create jobs, to help restore some of the financial security that so many families have lost,” Obama told Nevada voters after he met with struggling homeowners. “But I have to say that there are a few too many Republicans in Congress who don’t seem to be as optimistic as we are.”

Romney will navigate a tricky course today when he gives the commencement address at an evangelical university in Virginia, a long-planned speech designed to help him reconcile with religious conservatives nervous about his record on social issues such as abortion and gay rights.