Politics
Election 2012: Obama calls Romney’s ideas ‘extreme’ – AP Interview
The Republican platform in Tampa calls for a ban on abortion with no specific exceptions for rape or other circumstances. Obama predicted that a President Romney would not “stand in the way” if Congress gave him a bill that stripped away women’s control over their reproductive health.
Romney is on record, however, as not opposing abortion in cases of rape and incest or if it will save the mother’s life.
Polling shows social issues such as abortion represent perhaps Obama’s best opportunity to draw support from Romney. Obama already holds a broad lead as the candidate more trusted to handle those social issues among Democrats and independents. The issue is one of Romney’s biggest vulnerabilities among moderate and liberal Republicans.
Obama also sought to chip away at Romney’s trustworthiness, taking fresh shots at Romney’s refusal to release years of tax returns for public inspection. He said that position was indicative of a candidate who has a “lack of willingness to take responsibility for what this job entails.”
Yet it is the economy that has driven this election and has dominated Obama’s message of a middle-class revival.
“We aren’t where we need to be. Everybody agrees with that,” said Obama, who inherited an economy in free fall and now bears responsibility for a recovery that remains weak. “But Gov. Romney’s policies would make things worse for middle-class families and offer no prospect for long-term opportunity for those striving to get into the middle class,” the president said.
A Romney spokesman, Ryan Williams, jumped on Obama’s account in the interview that the economy clearly needs to get better. “Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan agree,” Williams said. “The American people know they aren’t better off than they were four years ago.”
