Mitt Romney offered his own State of the Union speech Tuesday, warning voters that President Barack Obama Tuesday "will give a nice speech with a lot of memorable phrases. But he won't give you the hard numbers" that show an economy still struggling.
Tonight, Romney said, "the President will deliver his State of the Union. But make no mistake: What he’s really offering are partisan planks for his re-election campaign."
Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who's seeking the Republican presidential nomination, went point by point during a speech at a Tampa area drywall factory, explaining why he'd be very different from Obama.
"Tonight, President Obama will make the opening argument in his campaign against a 'Do Nothing Congress.' But, we shouldn’t forget that for two years, this President had a Congress that could do everything he wanted," Romney said. Democrats controlled both Houses of Congress during the first two years of Obama's presidency.
"With huge Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, President Obama was free to pursue any policy he pleased," Romney recalled. "Did he fix the economy? Did he tackle the housing crisis? Did he get Americans back to work? No."
The jobless rate has dropped significant in recent months.
"Three years ago, we measured candidate Obama by his hopeful promises and slogans," Romney said. "Today, President Obama has amassed an actual record of debt, decline, and disappointment.
"This President’s agenda made these troubled times last longer. He and his allies made it harder for the economy to recover."
And, Romney said, "He leads the party of big government. He believes in ever-expanding entitlement. He’s wrong. We’re right. And this is a battle we cannot lose."