CHARLOTTE — Their nominating conventions behind them, President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney embarked Friday on their final 60 days of campaigning before the Nov. 6 election, focusing largely on the same battleground states in a race dominated by questions about the economy and jobs.
A day after Obama and his fellow Democrats concluded a three-day convention that presented their case for reelection, Romney seized on a lackluster jobs report to argue that it was time for “new leadership that will get our economy moving again.”
The Labor Department report said employers added 96,000 jobs in August, falling short of expectations. At the same time, the report said, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent last month from 8.3 percent in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work.
“If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover,” Romney said in a statement shortly after the news broke. “This is more of the same for middle class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.” Obama “just hasn’t lived up to his promises, and his policies haven’t worked,” Romney charged. “We aren’t better off than they were four years ago.”
The White House sought to put the best face on the new jobs numbers, noting that the economy “has now added private sector jobs for 30 straight months,” totaling 4.6 million jobs over that period.
“While there is more work that remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression,” Alan B. Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement. “It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007.”
Appealing to the nation Thursday night for another four years in office, Obama asserted that his policies are slowly returning the country to economic prosperity and argued that his Republican opponents would set the country back and harm middle-class families.
Speakers at the Democratic convention, including former president Bill Clinton, also argued that compared to the situation Obama inherited four years ago, when the economy was losing 750,000 jobs a month, Americans are indeed better off.
Obama, Vice President Biden and their wives headed Friday to Portsmouth, N.H., for a midday campaign rally, after which they were scheduled to fly to Iowa for a 5:30 p.m. appearance at the University of Iowa. Afterward, Obama was jetting to Florida while Biden headed to Ohio.
Romney, who accepted the Republican nomination at his party’s convention in Tampa last week, was scheduled to attend a midday event in Orange City, Iowa, then fly to Nashua, N.H., for an evening rally. GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was campaigning Friday at a truck plant in Sparks, Nev. Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, was scheduled to hold a late morning “Women for Mitt” rally at the Twin Oaks Riding Academy in Leesburg, Va.
A day after Obama and his fellow Democrats concluded a three-day convention that presented their case for reelection, Romney seized on a lackluster jobs report to argue that it was time for “new leadership that will get our economy moving again.”
The Labor Department report said employers added 96,000 jobs in August, falling short of expectations. At the same time, the report said, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent last month from 8.3 percent in July, but only because more people gave up looking for work.
“If last night was the party, this morning is the hangover,” Romney said in a statement shortly after the news broke. “This is more of the same for middle class families who are suffering through the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.” Obama “just hasn’t lived up to his promises, and his policies haven’t worked,” Romney charged. “We aren’t better off than they were four years ago.”
The White House sought to put the best face on the new jobs numbers, noting that the economy “has now added private sector jobs for 30 straight months,” totaling 4.6 million jobs over that period.
“While there is more work that remains to be done, today’s employment report provides further evidence that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression,” Alan B. Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement. “It is critical that we continue the policies that are building an economy that works for the middle class as we dig our way out of the deep hole that was caused by the severe recession that began in December 2007.”
Appealing to the nation Thursday night for another four years in office, Obama asserted that his policies are slowly returning the country to economic prosperity and argued that his Republican opponents would set the country back and harm middle-class families.
Speakers at the Democratic convention, including former president Bill Clinton, also argued that compared to the situation Obama inherited four years ago, when the economy was losing 750,000 jobs a month, Americans are indeed better off.
Obama, Vice President Biden and their wives headed Friday to Portsmouth, N.H., for a midday campaign rally, after which they were scheduled to fly to Iowa for a 5:30 p.m. appearance at the University of Iowa. Afterward, Obama was jetting to Florida while Biden headed to Ohio.
Romney, who accepted the Republican nomination at his party’s convention in Tampa last week, was scheduled to attend a midday event in Orange City, Iowa, then fly to Nashua, N.H., for an evening rally. GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was campaigning Friday at a truck plant in Sparks, Nev. Romney’s wife, Ann Romney, was scheduled to hold a late morning “Women for Mitt” rally at the Twin Oaks Riding Academy in Leesburg, Va.