President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign renewed its attacks on GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney on Monday, blasting the former Massachusetts governor’s past in Michigan, where the candidates vying for the 2012 Republican bid will appear on Wednesday for a debate. Romney was raised in suburban Detroit.
Saying that Romney “will be forced to explain” why he wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in 2008 with the headline “Let Detroit go bankrupt,” during a conference call with Michigan reporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina attacked Romney for “turning his back on middle-class families for years,” according to CNN.
“Friday, Romney rolled out a budget plan only the tea party could love,” Messina said, and blasted the former governor’s proposal for giving tax breaks to large corporations, millionaires, and billionaires; privatizing Medicare; and slashing funding for preventative care for women.
“Romney continues to believe we can cut our way to prosperity,” Messina said. “President Obama believes the opposite.”
Messina described Obama’s economic philosophy as believing the country’s success is linked to the success of the middle class, citing the president’s “investments in innovative technologies” that he said are contributing to job creation in the Wolverine State.
But Romney continues to lead all presidential candidates, including Obama, in fundraising in Michigan. According to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Romney has raised approximately $1.03 million in Michigan for his second bid for the White House, making him the top fundraiser in the state.
The president came in second, bringing in $718,519.
