(CBS News) WASHINGTON - Turning to Campaign 2012, the Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan joined forces in Ohio Saturday wrapping up the pre-convention campaign. CBS News was at Romney's rally that morning outside Columbus. He and his running mate, Paul Ryan, were squarely on message, hitting the president hard for his jobs record and saying he was all talk and no action.
"Do you want four more years of Barack Obama?" Romney asked the crowd. When they said no in unison, Romney replied, "Neither do I."
Campaigning with Ryan in Ohio, Romney took aim at the president on the issue voters say they care about most: economy.
"He doesn't understand what it is that makes America's economy so powerful, so dynamic, and so unique in the world," he said.
And with polls showing a gender gap, Romney also made an economic appeal to women.
"Just a word to the women entrepreneurs out there," he told the audience. "If we become president and vice president, we want to speak to you. We want to help you."
But in an interview Saturday with the Associated Press, President Obama called Romney's views extreme and said: "We aren't where we need to be. Everybody agrees with that. But Governor Romney's policies would make things worse for middle-class families."
The Romney campaign immediately shot back: "Too many middle-class families are going to sleep each night worried about the future. This may be the best President Obama can do, but it's not the best America can do."
In Ohio Saturday morning, Romney stayed away from the birth certificate joke that caused a dust-up Friday in his home state of Michigan, when he told a crowd of thousands: "No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised. "
When asked by CBS News' Scott Pelley, Romney said he was not questioning where the president was born. Pelley inquired why Romney said that.
"Oh, we're in Michigan. And Ann and i were both born in Detroit," said Romney. "And of course a little humor always goes a long way. So it was great to be home, to be in a place where Ann and I had grown up, and the crowd loved it and got a good laugh."
Friday night the campaign tweeted: "Song of the day: "Born in the U.S.A.,"" and provided a link to the Bruce Springsteen song.
It's unlikely there will be more of those birth certificate jokes from Romney. Some Republican strategists told CBS News that was a distraction from his main issue, which is the economy. As we saw on Saturday, he was right back on that message talking about jobs.
