(CNN) - Responding to President Barack Obama's convention speech, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said the difference in the race is the choice of "a new direction vs. more of the same."
The message was reflected in a statement issued by the Romney campaign, as well as a separate Romney campaign messaging memo to surrogates obtained by CNN Political Reporter Peter Hamby.
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"Tonight President Obama laid out the choice in this election, making the case for more of the same policies that haven't worked for the past four years," Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said in a statement to reporters. "He offered more promises, but he hasn't kept the promises he made four years ago. Americans will hold President Obama accountable for his record – they know they're not better off and that it's time to change direction.
"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will restore America's promise and deliver a better future for our country," he continued.
The messaging memo, obtained by CNN from a GOP source:
Message Points: A New Direction vs. More Of The Same
Top-Line Message:
· Four years ago, Barack Obama stood in front of Greek columns and told a cheering stadium that he'd make life better for Americans.
· Now, the critical question is this: "Are you better off than you were four years ago?"
· Americans know the answer is "no." They are not better off than they were four years ago.
· No president has ever asked to be re-elected with this many Americans out of work.
· Tonight, President Obama failed to make the case why the next four years will be any different than the last four.
· He offered more promises, but he's failed to keep the promises he made four years ago.
o Even President Obama himself called his own record "incomplete" when asked to grade his time in office.
· Despite President Obama's promises, things did not get better. We're in the midst of the worst economic recovery since the Great Depression.
23 million Americans are struggling for work.
Chronic unemployment is the highest in recorded history.
More than half the jobs created since the recession ended are low-wage jobs.
Household income has fallen by more than $4,000.
More than 10 million homeowners are underwater on their mortgages.
Gas prices have more than doubled.
Family healthcare premiums have increased by more than $2,300.
Poverty rates are headed toward a 50-year high.
Nearly 47 million Americans are on food stamps.
· The last four years may be the best President Obama can do – but it's not the best America can do.
· The American people will hold this president accountable for his record of unmet goals and unfulfilled promises.
· Mitt Romney is the man for this moment. He will help us deliver a better future for all Americans.
Mitt Romney vs. President Obama: New Direction vs. More Of The Same
· President Obama's policies have crushed the middle class. He owns the worst economic record of any president in modern history.
· What we can expect from President Obama's second term is more of the same:
o President Obama's plan to raise taxes on small business won't add jobs, it will eliminate them
o His assault on coal and gas and oil will send energy and manufacturing jobs to China
o His trillion-dollar cuts to our military will eliminate hundreds of thousands of jobs, and also put our security at greater risk
o His $716 billion cut to Medicare to finance Obamacare will both hurt today's seniors, and depress innovation – and jobs – in medicine
o And his trillion-dollar deficits will slow our economy, restrain employment, and cause wages to stall
· Mitt Romney is running for president to help create a better future. Mitt Romney's plan for a Stronger Middle Class will create 12 million new jobs. It has five steps:
o First, by 2020, North America will be energy independent by taking full advantage of our oil and coal and gas and nuclear and renewables.
o Second, we will give our fellow citizens the skills they need for the jobs of today and the careers of tomorrow. When it comes to the school your child will attend, every parent should have a choice, and every child should have a chance.
o Third, we will make trade work for America by forging new trade agreements. And when nations cheat in trade, there will be unmistakable consequences.
o Fourth, to assure every entrepreneur and every job creator that their investments in America will not vanish as have those in Greece, we will cut the deficit and put America on track to a balanced budget.
o And fifth, Mitt Romney will champion small businesses, America's engine of job growth. That means reducing taxes on business, not raising them. It means simplifying and modernizing the regulations that hurt small business the most. And it means that we must rein in the skyrocketing cost of healthcare by repealing and replacing Obamacare.
· If we want a new direction, we need a new president.
BACKGROUND: THE OBAMA ECONOMY IN PERSPECTIVE
Obama Will Take The Stage At The Convention With The Highest Unemployment Rate For A Democrat Incumbent Since The Great Depression:
· CARTER: President Jimmy Carter Has The Next Highest Rate; In August 1980, The Unemployment Rate Was 7.7 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/6/12)
· OBAMA: The Current Unemployment Rate Is 8.3 Percent. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/6/12)
Obama Will Take The Stage At The Convention With The Weakest GDP Growth For A Democrat Incumbent Since Jimmy Carter In 1980:
· CARTER: The GDP Growth Rate In The Second Quarter Of 1980 Was -7.9 Percent. (Bureau Of Economic Analysis, Accessed 9/6/12)
· OBAMA: The GDP Growth Rate In The Second Quarter Of 2012 Was 1.7 Percent. (Bureau Of Economic Analysis, Accessed 9/6/12)
Obama Will Take The Stage At The Convention As Americans Face The Most Difficult Job Hunt Under A Democrat Incumbent Since The Great Depression:
· JOHNSON: President Lyndon Johnson Was The Next Highest; In August 1964, It Took An Unemployed Worker An Average Of 13.0 Weeks To Find A Job. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/6/12)
· OBAMA: In August 2012, It Takes An Unemployed Worker An Average Of 38.8 Weeks To Find A Job. (Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 9/6/12)
From CNN Politics
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Obama Biden 2012
Michelle Obama 2016
She has my vote!
Romney and Ryan do not stand a chance. Game over GOP!
@ anyone but Obama
Get a life!!!
fake conservative if you think mitt Romney will do a better jobs ask the state of mass.
Well I asked myself the question, am I better off than I was 4 years ago. The answer to that is an unequivocal "Yes". I'm making more money, as is my wife, and my employment is stable. I own a home and my daughter started college. Things are good. So I guess based on that I'll be casting my vote, again, for President Obama.
Leave no man behind sounds pretty good until you move forward off the cliff. Well, actually it might be good if everyone has to pay for the consequences. Get ready, when the democrats run out of rich peoples money, they're coming for everyone else's. FORWARD!
Mitt who?
Yo Mitt, Here's a newsflash: We ARE better off!
Anyone but Obama: write in your own name, you sound about as capable of running the country as Romney/Ryan.
In 2008, you elected the president by the hype he created, which is not your fault. However, if you re-elect him again this time, you are stupid because you can not see what have happened in this country and you have not learned from your mistake.
why the republican can talk about how jobs the economy lost after bush left office? I strongly believe the country is in better shape when Obama took office, and we are moving in the right direction. we will not go back to the same Bush policies that never worked in the first place.
I think the vote about God on the convention floor will become the defining moment. Democrats voted and ignored the voice of their own people just like they did when they rammed ObamaCare through congress. They are not listening.
Obama's speech was full of inconsistencies. He seemed to echo the "we built this" theme of the Republicans. but "we built this" quickly became you built it because the government took it from you and gave it to someone who couldn't build it.
Obviously, this statement was written and released before the Romney campaign actually saw the speech. President Obama listed all of his accomplishments.
You see folks, I know you're not smart enough to grasp this but, if you give millionaires more tax breaks, they'll invest that money overseas which will allow you the freedom to buy more items at the Dollar Store. Then, whatever money is left over Paul and I will spend on good pairs of running shoes. With a little training, I'm sure Paul can do a sub-one hour marathon
Obama/Biden hit it out of the ballpark. Obama took Ronmey back to school. The choice is very clear. Obama is getting my vote from the state of California. Kudos to the DNC convention.
Obama 2012
i so connect with my president, he is true and humble. I will stand by his side, because of his medical plan i can be treated for a disease that was deemed pre existing! and not pay $1400 per month for famliy heath insurance.
Good OLD Republicans. No new ideas just tax cuts & more of the same. Romney/Ryan, sit down. You are about to get schooled.
I watched the GOP and saw a group of rich men who have declared America dead and are ready to divide up the spoils. I watched the Dem.'s and saw the United States of America.
I am an Independent and will be voting for all Democrats.
Are people still so deluded that they think 51% of the population will actually vote GOP?? The entire party needs to revamp their image and goals to meet today's majority. It's not healthy for a democracy to have one of the only two viable parties stand no chance. I beleive in 2016 we will be seeing a very different and new GOP.
Who is responsible for putting the country into the great recession? By whom, time and again the surpluses were turned into deficits? or guys who posted above comments does not know arithmetic?
Mitt will be crushed even more in the debates by the President than he was tonight. The same goes for Ryan by the VP. Now that everyone has heard the truth at the DNC, let Mitt continue lying. There is a reason the President has not been attacking him as much as they could have been. Because the Republicans destroy themselves. Look at their choices for candidates this year!
Romney camp is still reporting that there are 23 million unemployed? It's 12.8 million as of Aug 3, 2012 (and yes, I checked using the Bureau of Labor Statistics). Republicans are so smug in thinking that people will instantly believe the lies that constantly spill out of their mouths! And the sad truth is, there are a lot of ignorant people who will instead of looking up the facts themselves. I find it interesting how they claim that Obama is making the same statements, and yet Romney hasn't definitively described anything that he plans, all he does is morph around the issues.
fake conservative what is mitt Romney plan on growing the economic like bill Clinton say 0 none.
Like Bill Clinton said: "There they go again"
Are we better off than we were 4 years ago? Yes!
Are we better off than in the most prosperous times - the Clinton years? NO!
Now ask yourself the silver bullet question: what caused you to be worse off a) aftershocks from The Great Recession or b) President Obama and his policies?
It's clearly a) and even the GOP knows it. Forget about the talking points. Just ask yourself "does all the serious allegations the GOP says smell right?" Think hard, and vote with your mind.
Obama/Biden 2012