Obama accuses Romney of "twisting" his words

(CBS News) President Obama returned to the campaign trail Monday and accused the Republicans and Mitt Romney of "twisting" his words on small business.

Mr. Obama's opponents have repeatedly nailed him on a comment he made at an event in Roanoke, Va., on July 13, where he said, "If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." Romney and Republicans have saidthat one sentence, taken from a large point Mr. Obama was making about his view that wealthy Americans are willing to pitch in more to help the economy, is anti-small business.

Monday night, at a fundraiser at Oakland's Fox Theater, Mr. Obama, with his tie pulled loose around an open collar and rolled up shirt sleeves responded to those criticisms.

"Earlier today Gov. Romney was at it again, knowingly twisting my words around to suggest that I don't value small businesses," he said. "In politics we all tolerate a certain amount of spin. I understand these are the games that get played in political campaigns. But when folks omit entire sentences of what I said, they start splicing and dicing, you may have gone a little over the edge."

He also blamed Republicans for sticking to their "uncompromising view" that the only path forward is to go back to top down economics that contributed to the poor economy in the first place.

Earlier in the night, he spoke at a fundraiser attended by a supporter who has also been the focus of Republican attacks: former Energy Department official Matt Rogers, who helped secure a federal loan for the failed solar company Solyndra.

Tuesday, Mr. Obama heads to Portland, Ore., and Seattle to attend another four campaign fundraisers.

CBS News' Mark Knoller contributed to this report.