AKRON, Ohio (AP) - President Barack Obama made his rival's personal millions a front-and-center issue in the race for the White House on Wednesday, telling a swing-state audience that Mitt Romney "is asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a big tax cut."
"In order to afford just one $250,000 tax cut for somebody like Mr. Romney, 125 families like yours would have to pay another $2,000 in taxes each and every year," Obama added, citing a report that his opponent's aides immediately denounced as deeply flawed.
The president leveled his charge as Romney, back from an overseas trip, looked ahead to an intensive campaign stretch that will culminate in his selection of a vice presidential running mate as early as next week and the Republican National Convention at month's end.
There were hints that Republicans might soon seek to expand the political playing field into Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, states that traditionally vote Democratic in a presidential race. Campaign activity has been relatively modest in all three since the end of the GOP primaries.
Officials familiar with campaign advertising said Restore our Future, a super Pac aligned with the former Massachusetts governor, is airing television ads in all three states that retrace Romney's successful stewardship of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. "After Sept.11, Romney delivered the Olympics safe and sound," the announcer says, referring to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of more than a decade ago.
The ad makes no mention of Obama, and appears designed to give viewers a positive, initial impression of a candidate they may not know much about - the type of commercial that often serves as an introduction to a longer campaign effort.
Obama campaigned in Mansfield and then Akron, and his campaign backed his rhetoric with a new ad that described Romney's economic plan this way: "a new $250,000 tax cut for millionaires. Increase military spending. Adding trillions to the Deficit."
Ryan Williams, a spokesman for Romney, called it a "ridiculous ad coming from a president who shattered his pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term."
Within earshot of Obama's remarks there was evidence of an electorate in flux.
"You don't know who to trust. It makes me not want to vote anymore," said Nita Maytern, 39, of Mansfield, who could hear Obama's voice from her spot outside the park where he spoke. She said she is a registered Republican but may not vote this fall because she hasn't been following the campaign.
The president and most Democrats in Congress want to extend existing tax cuts for all who earn less than $250,000 a year, while letting them expire on Dec. 31 for everyone else.