President Obama Heads To Florida This Week
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Commander-in-Chief is scheduled to attend several campaign events in Florida this week.
On Thursday, President Barack Obama will address supporters and raise funds in Jacksonville and West Palm Beach. On Friday, he's scheduled to be in Ft. Myers and Orlando.
Earlier this week, President Obama courted donors in Texas before heading back to Washington D.C. for a series of meetings.
The Obama campaign has been trying to keep Republican contender Mitt Romney focused on matters other than the sluggish economy. On Tuesday the released a single-shot TV ad which suggested that Romney gamed the system so well that he may not have paid any taxes at all for years.
On Wednesday, the Obama campaign released a web video questioning Romney's claims that he had "no responsibility whatsoever" at Bain after February 1999, despite SEC filings that list him as sole owner and CEO through February 2001.
After being on his heels for several days, Romney launched an aggressive counterattack this week, punctuated by biting speeches, conference calls and a television ad released Wednesday that accuses Obama of "crony capitalism." The ad says Obama sent stimulus money to "friends, donors, campaign supporters and special interest groups," and charges that taxpayer dollars went to projects in Finland and China.
The former Massachusetts governor takes his fight against President Barack Obama to Ohio on Wednesday, building off fiery speeches in Pennsylvania the day before in which he accused his Democratic opponent of believing the government is more vital to a thriving economy than the nation's workers and dreamers.
"I'm convinced he wants Americans to be ashamed of success," Romney declared Tuesday in the Pittsburgh area as hundreds of supporters cheered him on.
Romney has also seized on comments Obama made while campaigning in Virginia last week.
The president, making a point about the supportive role government plays in building the nation, said in part: "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."
Obama later added, "The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together."
At a Pittsburgh fundraiser Tuesday evening, Romney lashed out at the remark.
"It's foolish on its face and shocking that a president of the United States would not understand the power of entrepreneurship and innovation," Romney said. "It is an attack on the very premise that makes America such a powerful economic engine."
For the often-reserved Romney, the fresh attacks marked a substantial escalation in aggression for a candidate who has recently struggled to answer questions about his business career and personal tax returns. The former businessman, who would be among the nation's wealthiest presidents if elected, has so far released just one year of personal income tax returns and promised to release a second.
That's a stark deviation from a tradition created in part by Romney's father, George, a presidential candidate a generation ago who released 12 years of his own returns.
A defiant Romney has accused the Obama campaign of using the issue to distract voters from the state of the nation's economy less than four months before Election Day.
But it's unclear if Romney's new strategy will be enough to change the subject, particularly as several prominent Republicans joined Democrats in pushing Romney for more transparency.
Late Tuesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry — who challenged Romney for the Republican presidential nomination — became the latest in a series of high-profile conservatives to pressure Romney to open his finances. Perry, who has released his tax returns dating back to 1992, said anyone running for office should make public as much personal information as possible to help voters decide.
Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said Romney will not bow to the pressure.
"The governor has gone above and beyond what's required for disclosure," Madden said. "The situation remains the same."
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