Romney says Obama's playing a hide-and-seek re-election campaign and setting up 'straw men' to distract from his record

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a rebuttal of sorts Wednesday to President Barack Obama's bitterly partisan speech the day before to group of reporters in Washington criticizing the economic message of his Republican critics. Romney accused the president of running a hide-and-seek re-election campaign that assumes what the voters don't know about his plans for missile defense, Medicare and more "won't hurt him." AP reports:

"Delivering what amounted to a rebuttal from the same podium where Obama spoke a day earlier, the Republican nominee-in-waiting said remarks the president was recently heard making to Russian President Medvedev call 'his candor into serious question.'

'What exactly does President Obama intend to do differently once he is no longer accountable to the voters?' he asked.

[...]

"Romney spoke one day after Obama delivered a scathing indictment of Republican economic policies in a speech to the annual meeting of The Associated Press.

In reply, the Republican challenger said Obama "criticized policies no one is proposing. It's one of his favorite strategies - setting up straw men to distract from his record."

[...]

Romney didn't mention Santorum on Tuesday night but sought to cast Obama as an 'out of touch' liberal whose personal background is hostile to a free economy."