Romney, Dems Engage On Jobs

Politico reports:

Mitt Romney skipped past his Republican rivals and brought his campaign right to the general election on Thursday — and the Democrats accepted the fight.

Instead of knocking his primary opponents, staging his jobs event in a primary battleground, or even acknowledging anything in his way between him and next November, Romney came to this general election swing state to take on President Barack Obama.

And in a clear sign that they were paying attention — and sizing Romney up for November themselves — the Democrats spent the day hammering the former Massachusetts governor through a fact check of his own record on the economy from the Democratic National Committee and a conference call held by local surrogates.

The location went right at the White House — Romney attacked Obama for his record on jobs outside the shuttered Allentown Metal Works, the struggling but then still open factory that Obama visited in December 2009 in advance of a major economic speech selling the stimulus. The scheduling went at the White House as well, with Obama also spending the afternoon in Pennsylvania, just 60 miles south in Philadelphia.