BOSTON -- Sensing an opening on the economy, President Barack Obama launched an aggressive new effort Saturday to convince voters in the most competitive states that Republican rival Mitt Romney is risky for the nation's recovery with a plan that caters to multimillionaires over the middle class.
"They want to go back to the same old policies that got us in trouble in the first place," former President Bill Clinton is shown saying in the 60-second TV ad set to run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
"We're not going back; we are moving forward," Obama adds in the commercial.
Romney doesn't agree and says Obama's leadership has done little to jolt an economy hampered by an unemployment rate at 8.1%.
"All the false and misleading ads in the world can't change one simple fact: Americans are not better off since President Obama took office," said Ryan Williams, a Romney campaign spokesman.
Obama's campaign spent about $6 million to buy airtime for the new ad in the key battleground states.
The fresh Obama push, coupled with ads last week by both candidates squaring off over China's impact on the U.S. economy, comes nearly seven weeks before Election Day and as polls point to modest gains for the president following the national political conventions.
Both campaigns say they expect the race to be decided by eight or nine states.
Romney, a former business executive who says he's the man to fix the sluggish economy, was taking Saturday off from campaigning.
He was trying to refocus his campaign on the economy after a difficult week dominated by foreign policy, a vulnerability, in the wake of unrest at U.S. embassies.
At the same time, Romney is working to reassure concerned conservatives that he has a winning strategy that relies partly on strong performances at next month's debates. He also was finalizing plans to make an aggressive push to try to narrow Obama's advantage among women and Hispanics.
A new national survey by the New York Times and CBS News finds that Romney has lost his edge on the question of whom voters view as most likely to restore the economy and create jobs.
[h=3]More Details: Jill Biden visits west Michigan[/h]GRAND RAPIDS — Vice President Joe Biden’s wife campaigned in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek on Saturday.
In Grand Rapids, Jill Biden told Democrats that her husband and President Barack Obama are looking out for them. In return, she said, “It’s time that we have their backs.”
Jill Biden visited a campaign office Saturday, kicking off door-to-door visits in Grand Rapids neighborhoods. Her schedule included a similar stop in Battle Creek and a visit with students at Kalamazoo College. She has spent a lot of time in Michigan, making three visits since July.
[h=3]More Details: Paul Ryan gives volunteers in Michigan a pep talk[/h]A couple thousand Republican volunteers in Michigan got a pep talk Saturday from vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
In a conference call with volunteers set up in Mitt Romney’s 22 campaign offices across the state, Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, told the workers to think about how successful the GOP was when faced with recall elections earlier this year in his home state.
After Republicans passed a bill that severely restricted collective-bargaining rights for Wisconsin’s public employees in 2011, recall elections were launched against nine Republican senators, three Democratic senators and Gov. Scott Walker. Three of the Republican senators were recalled.
“There is no substitute for human contact,” Ryan said. “It’s about people talking to people and showing them the stakes in the election.”
The campaign volunteers had a goal of knocking on 100,000 doors Saturday.
The presidential campaigns haven’t been concentrating on Michigan much this year, with the candidates spending most of their time in more competitive states, such as Ohio and Florida.
"They want to go back to the same old policies that got us in trouble in the first place," former President Bill Clinton is shown saying in the 60-second TV ad set to run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
"We're not going back; we are moving forward," Obama adds in the commercial.
Romney doesn't agree and says Obama's leadership has done little to jolt an economy hampered by an unemployment rate at 8.1%.
"All the false and misleading ads in the world can't change one simple fact: Americans are not better off since President Obama took office," said Ryan Williams, a Romney campaign spokesman.
Obama's campaign spent about $6 million to buy airtime for the new ad in the key battleground states.
The fresh Obama push, coupled with ads last week by both candidates squaring off over China's impact on the U.S. economy, comes nearly seven weeks before Election Day and as polls point to modest gains for the president following the national political conventions.
Both campaigns say they expect the race to be decided by eight or nine states.
Romney, a former business executive who says he's the man to fix the sluggish economy, was taking Saturday off from campaigning.
He was trying to refocus his campaign on the economy after a difficult week dominated by foreign policy, a vulnerability, in the wake of unrest at U.S. embassies.
At the same time, Romney is working to reassure concerned conservatives that he has a winning strategy that relies partly on strong performances at next month's debates. He also was finalizing plans to make an aggressive push to try to narrow Obama's advantage among women and Hispanics.
A new national survey by the New York Times and CBS News finds that Romney has lost his edge on the question of whom voters view as most likely to restore the economy and create jobs.
[h=3]More Details: Jill Biden visits west Michigan[/h]GRAND RAPIDS — Vice President Joe Biden’s wife campaigned in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek on Saturday.
In Grand Rapids, Jill Biden told Democrats that her husband and President Barack Obama are looking out for them. In return, she said, “It’s time that we have their backs.”
Jill Biden visited a campaign office Saturday, kicking off door-to-door visits in Grand Rapids neighborhoods. Her schedule included a similar stop in Battle Creek and a visit with students at Kalamazoo College. She has spent a lot of time in Michigan, making three visits since July.
[h=3]More Details: Paul Ryan gives volunteers in Michigan a pep talk[/h]A couple thousand Republican volunteers in Michigan got a pep talk Saturday from vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
In a conference call with volunteers set up in Mitt Romney’s 22 campaign offices across the state, Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, told the workers to think about how successful the GOP was when faced with recall elections earlier this year in his home state.
After Republicans passed a bill that severely restricted collective-bargaining rights for Wisconsin’s public employees in 2011, recall elections were launched against nine Republican senators, three Democratic senators and Gov. Scott Walker. Three of the Republican senators were recalled.
“There is no substitute for human contact,” Ryan said. “It’s about people talking to people and showing them the stakes in the election.”
The campaign volunteers had a goal of knocking on 100,000 doors Saturday.
The presidential campaigns haven’t been concentrating on Michigan much this year, with the candidates spending most of their time in more competitive states, such as Ohio and Florida.