Published : Feb. 4, 2012 - 14:12
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign rally, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, in Elko, Nev. AP-Yonhap
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Mitt Romney, heavily favored to win Nevada's presidential caucuses Saturday, focused on the state's unemployment rate _ which is well above the national average _ rather than campaigning against chief Republican rival Newt Gingrich.
Campaigning throughout the state Friday, Romney sought to convince weary voters that he alone had the prescriptions for what ails the country _ even as the government reported that a quarter-million Americans streamed back into the work force in January.
A confident Romney cruised to victory in Florida last Tuesday, a major win in the contest to decide who will face President Barack Obama in the November general election. He handily won Nevada four years ago.
Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum also are on the ballot. But Romney, a Mormon, has an existing network of support from his 2008 race and likely will again benefit from the support of members of his church, many of whom live in Nevada.
Nevada's unemployment rate was 12.6 in December after a record economic bust that saw bustling construction sites abandoned and master-planned communities overtaken by foreclosures. Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, accused Obama of failing to do enough to create jobs in the state.
Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, who is fighting for a respectable showing here, rolled out a fresh line of criticism by comparing Romney to Obama.
``It isn't good enough for the Republican Party to nominate Obama lite,'' Gingrich told a boisterous crowd at a rally at country music club. He said Romney is against the ``American ideal'' and doesn't understand the free market.
Romney didn't immediately counter the attack.
The new jobs snapshot showed the U.S. unemployment rate tumbled to 8.3 percent _ almost the same rate it was right after Obama took office, when a monstrous recession was gobbling up American jobs. Hiring is now on a consistent upswing and employers added nearly twice as many jobs last year as they did in 2010.
Romney acknowledged the brightening economic picture but argued it had little to do with Obama or his policies. ``The policies of this administration have not been helpful. They, in fact, have been harmful,'' he said.
Gingrich, looking to recover from the political beating he took Florida, chose to spend much of his time hammering home his latest argument against a Romney presidency _ that there is virtually no difference between Romney and Obama.
Gingrich has kept a light schedule in Nevada as he fights for a respectable showing and looks for the Republican contest to turn to the South again in March.
Paul campaigned in Nye County, Nevada, the sole county he carried in the state's caucuses in 2008. The Texas congressman came in second behind Mitt Romney that year, but he hopes to win the state outright this time.
Paul was set to address a gathering of gun enthusiasts in Las Vegas before flying to Minnesota, where he will campaign ahead of that state's caucuses on Tuesday.
Santorum was in Missouri, which holds a nonbinding contest Tuesday. Gingrich is not on the ballot there.