Reporting from Derry, N.H.— Brimming with self-confidence after a debate performance that attracted generally favorable notices, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took something of a victory lap Tuesday morning -- and a sharp swipe at President Obama.
Romney portrayed Obama as out of touch with the plight of ordinary Americans at a time of persistent high joblessness and sputtering economic growth. And he couched his remarks along the lines of a question that candidate Ronald Reagan posed to devastating effect in successfully unseating an incumbent Democratic president.
When asked about the influence of the tea party, the chair of the House Tea Party caucus hit her stride.
"It's a wide swath of America coming together, I think that's why the left fears it so much, because its people who simply want to take the country back, they want to country to work again," she said of the Tea Party movement.
But she didn't stop there.
"No question this election will be about economics. How will we create jobs?... It's a great story for Republicans to tell, President Obama can't tell that story... Republicans have an awesome story to tell," she said, noting the tea party's focus on the economy. But she asked Republicans to join together.
"We need everybody to come together. Because we are going to win! Make no mistake about it. I want to announce tonight: President Obama is a one-term president," she said to boisterous applause. Camera shots of the crowd showed more smiles and approval for that line than at any other time in the debate.
Romney said he felt all of the Republican candidates had a good night in the two-hour debate, his first of the 2012 season, and that everyone, including himself, "was lifted a bit by the experience."
He also had compliments for the newest candidate in the race, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. "I thought she did a very nice job," Romney.
As he shook hands with patrons of diners in Derry and Manchester, Romney received compliments for his debate performance. He leads by a wide margin in statewide polls in the first primary state and is the nominal frontrunner in the GOP contest.
Romney felt confident enough, in chatting with the owner of a local hardware store, to promise a return visit in four years, when "I'll probably have Secret Service with me."
The owner, Brad Benson, who also chairs the town council, introduced Romney to some 40 reporters and photographers clustered on an abnormally chilly morning by expressing the hope that, as president, Romney might be able to help spur the local economy in small towns like Derry.
However, the "tough times" that Romney deplored in Derry have had an uneven impact, with some businessmen, like Benson, who employs about 100 people, starting to hiring new workers again.
