Obama, Romney shift to general election
The race for president shifted dramatically Friday into a general election match-up between President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney as the candidates delivered dueling, sharp-tongued speeches about the presidents leadership.
In Appleton, Wis., Romney assumed the mantle of presumptive nominee, delivering a revamped address attacking what he called Obama's vision for a government-centered society. Obama, in a four-stop campaign swing through New England, offered a robust defense of his first term and invoked his 2008 rallying cry by characterizing his actions as what change is.
For months, the Republican nominating contest has dominated national headlines, with Romney fending off intense challenges from more conservative alternatives. But with the former Massachusetts governor pulling ahead in the delegate count and the White House moving into full reelection mode, both sides are now treating the campaign as a duel between Romney and Obama.
The president took credit for saving the auto industry, preventing a historic economic collapse and passing a sweeping health-care overhaul (though he did not mention the Supreme Court case challenging the law). His work is unfinished in Washington, he said, and he exhorted wildly enthusiastic crowds in deep-blue Burlington, Vt., and suburban Portland to help him win another term so that more change can come.
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