Obama escalates election fight as he opens campaign in Ohio, Virginia

WASHINGTON – In campaign mode for months, President Barack Obama is making his quest for a second term official with rallies in Ohio and Virginia while casting Republican rival Mitt Romney as a flip-flopping protector of the rich.

The events Saturday at two universities, Ohio State and Virginia Commonwealth, were billed as the official kickoff of Obama’s re-election bid, even though he’s been solidly engaged in his campaign and over a year ago filed the necessary paperwork to run again.

During the events, the president planned to try to convince voters that his policies have put the economy on more solid footing despite fresh evidence that the job market remains weak. He also was expected to try to define Romney as a candidate peddling failed policies for both the economy and national security.

Obama has headlined dozens of fundraisers around the country as his campaign tries to build a solid money advantage over Romney. In his official White House travels, often to the most contested states, the president has pitched policy positions that fit neatly into the campaign’s central theme of economic fairness. They range from a millionaires’ tax to freezing student loan interest rates.

Official campaign rallies can free Obama up to take more direct aim at Romney. Until now, Obama has used Romney’s name sparingly, often choosing instead to cloak his criticisms of Romney in attacks against generic Republicans.

Some Democrats saw Saturday’s rallies as a chance for Obama to put Republicans on notice that he plans to be an aggressor in the race.

“What we’ve seen too many times in the past is Democrats are way too meek in defining their opponents or defining themselves in an election,” said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist. “This president is not going to let the Republicans define him.”

Obama’s speeches Saturday weren’t expected to differ greatly from what he’s been saying in fundraisers or what his team has said in the campaign.

David Axelrod, an Obama senior adviser, said the president wasn’t a candidate who “reinvents himself week to week,” as Axelrod poked at Romney’s sometimes shifting positions. Instead, Axelrod and other Obama advisers are trying to reinforce broader themes of advocating for the middle class and trying to portray Romney as the candidate for the wealthiest Americans.

Republicans argue the Obama campaign is not aiming for consistency, but rather struggling to find a comprehensive vision for a second term.

“They have nothing positive to run,” said Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee. “No successful incumbent, no impressive record and no thriving economy.”

The latest job numbers from Friday highlighted the challenge Obama faces in convincing voters that he is the right steward for the economy. Job growth slumped for a second straight month. The unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 per cent but largely because more people stopped looking for work and therefore were no longer deemed unemployed.

In the face of continued economic unease, Obama’s rallies Saturday were intended to recapture some of the youthful, hopeful energy of his 2008 campaign.

The campus settings were likely to create the atmosphere where Obama is at his best, feeding off the energy of an enthusiastic crowd. Young voters were a crucial voting bloc in his 2008 victory.

Michelle Obama was joining the president at the stops Saturday in two states that are critical to the president’s re-election effort.

In 2008, Obama won Ohio while reversing decades of Republican dominance in Virginia.

Since then, Virginia has swung back toward the Republicans in statewide elections. Both Obama and Romney advisers acknowledge that the state is up for grabs.

During a campaign event in Portsmouth, Virginia, on Thursday, Romney said, “This may well be the state that decides who the next president is.”

The Romney campaign would like to broaden his appeal to the political centre, while harnessing the anti-Obama intensity from his party’s right. It’s a tricky move, but Romney is trying to prove he won’t turn his back on his party’s most passionate voters who are wary of more moderate positions he held on health care reform, abortion and gay rights when he served as Massachusetts governor.

The Romney campaign for the moment seems more focused on uniting a party that just experienced a bitter primary. His aides highlight the need to excite conservative activists, who will drive turnout on Election Day in November and handle the lion’s share of the less-glamorous tasks needed to run a national campaign.

He’s devoting significant attention to skeptical conservatives who have supported his Republican rivals until recently. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum gave up his bid last month, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich made his departure official this past week.

“We’re moving quickly,” said Romney senior aide Peter Flaherty, who is leading the campaign’s conservative outreach. “We are going to work very hard to continue to work with conservatives, to work with the base, to keep them energized.”

Romney on Friday met with Santorum, who has indicated he will endorse Romney. Since Santorum quit, Romney’s campaign has been recruiting former Santorum staffers and courting his key allies and donors. Romney has hired Santorum’s former campaign manager to broaden coalitions with conservative groups.

At the same time, the Romney campaign is paying lots of attention to the conservative media.

He and his wife met this past week with right-leaning bloggers, reporters and columnists for an off-the-record discussion on Capitol Hill. He has granted interviews recently to conservative publications such as The Weekly Standard, the blog “Hot Air,” National Review and Human Events magazine.

Romney will deliver a commencement address next week at Liberty University, the evangelical institution founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell in Lynchburg, Virginia. He will be the first Mormon to speak at a Liberty graduation.

____

Associated Press writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.