Friday, October 26, 2012
DEFIANCE, Ohio (AP) — Mitt Romney is trying to close the deal with voters by promising to revitalize the economy, an area where polling shows the Republican presidential nominee has an edge heading into the final days of the campaign.
As President Barack Obama takes a break from the campaign trail, Romney was promoting an economic address in swing state Iowa to help win the dwindling number of voters yet to make up their minds. While the speech was not expected to break new ground, Romney's campaign said he would use it to help crystalize the differences between his and Obama's economic approaches.
"If Paul Ryan and I are elected as your president and vice president, we will endeavor with all our hearts and energy to restore America," Romney said in prepared excerpts his campaign released hours before he was scheduled to deliver the speech. "Instead of more spending, more borrowing from China and higher taxes from Washington, we'll renew our faith in the power of free people pursuing their dreams."
Romney argues in the speech that Obama has no proposals that can meet "the challenges of the times." He dismisses the president's signature legislative achievement as "his vaunted Obamacare" and says he would instead focus on saving Medicare and Social Security. He repeats many of his standard campaign themes: that Obama is focusing on small issues like "characters on Sesame Street and silly word games" and that Romney will improve kitchen-table concerns like health care, job creation and school choice. His signature refrain is that America can't afford another four years like the last four years.