Romney blasts Obama on jobs as two new GOP polls show him ahead
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released a video lambasting President Obama on his economic performance on Monday, criticizing his record on job creation and suggesting the president is unconcerned with the plight of unemployed Americans.
The video, entitled "Bump in the Road," seizes on the president's recent comments that the jobs report released on June 3, which showed unemployment at 9.1 percent, was a "bump in the road."
(Watch the video above.)
"I'm an American, not a bump in the road," say the people featured in the video, who also hold up signs detailing the circumstances surrounding their struggles.
"Millions have lost their jobs under president Obama," read captions in the video. "Long-term unemployment is now worse than the Great Depression... President Obama called it a bump in the road."
The video comes on the heels of what appears to be a Romney surge among the GOP presidential candidates: the former Massachusetts governor tops two new surveys polling the Republican field, scoring a 24 percent support rating among Republicans and independents in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, as well as 24 percent support in a Monday USA Today/Gallup poll.
In both polls, Sarah Palin ranks second - with 20 percent in the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, and 16 percent in the USA Today/Gallup poll.
Romney will participate tonight in the first major GOP presidential debate alongside fellow candidates Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Rep. Ron Paul, and Rep. Michele Bachmann.
The Republican debate: 10 things to watchPalin, who has not officially announced whether or not she will run for president, will not participate in the Monday night debate.
Despite the apparent boost, however, Romney is likely to face questions in the debate about the health care plan he passed during his tenure as Massachusetts governor - a plan that GOP presidential contender Tim Pawlenty tied to Mr.'s Obama's health care bill by calling it "Obamaneycare."
"President Obama said that he designed Obamacare after Romneycare and basically made it Obamneycare," Pawlenty said Sunday on Fox News. "What I don't understand is that they both continue to defend it."
