Obama makes economic case in battleground Colorado
(CBS News) After a week largely focused on the turmoil in the Middle East and his administration's foreign policy, President Obama on Thursday revived his economic campaign pitch in one of the most critical counties in one of this year's key swing states.
"We don't believe in a top-down, trickle-down economy that says to everybody you're on your own," Mr. Obama said to a crowd of supporters in Golden, Colorado, against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. "We believe the economy grows from the middle class out, from the bottom up."
Golden is part of Jefferson County which, along with Arapahoe County, has become a focal point for the 2012 presidential campaigns. As the Washington Post reports, the two counties account for nearly one quarter of Colorado's electorate and have swung between the parties in recent elections.
In 2008, Mr. Obama won Colorado by nine points, but the state's nine electoral votes are considered a toss-up this year. Today's stop marked the president's 14th stop in Colorado since taking office and his ninth this year, according to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.
Mr. Obama noted Thursday that he is the first sitting president to visit Jefferson County since Ulysses S. Grant. "Back then you couldn't even vote -- you guys were still a territory," the president joked with the crowd.
Using a rhetorical device he employed in his speech last week at the Democratic National Convention, Mr. Obama ridiculed Republicans for suggesting tax cuts as a solution for everything.
"Tax cuts in good times, tax cuts in bad times, tax cuts when we're in peace, tax cuts when we're at war," the president said. "Tax cuts to lose a few extra pounds...whatever ails you."
He reminded voters that under his leadership, the typical family has seen their income tax burden decrease and that small businesses have seen several tax cuts.
"I've cut taxes -- for folks who need it," Mr. Obama said. He lambasted Republicans for suggesting they can cut the deficit "by spending trillions more on tax breaks for the wealthy."
While the president for the most part focused on the economy, he also addressed the violence in Libya that left four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, dead.
"No act of terror will go unpunished," Mr. Obama said. "It will not dim the light of the values we proudly present to the world."
