LAS VEGAS – Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney engaged in a skirmish over the middle class with President Barack Obama's campaign Wednesday, a preview of a clash that could dominate a fall campaign between the two.
Fresh off a major win in Florida and heading west for a Nevada vote Saturday, Romney said he would focus on helping the middle class, as the rich could care for themselves and the poor already had a safety net.
"I'm not concerned about the very poor," the former Massachusetts governor said on Wednesday morning on CNN. "We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who are struggling."
But Romney's tax plan could raise taxes for lower-income families and would make cuts for millionaires. Obama's campaign seized on the part about not needing to do any more to help the poor, using it to portray Romney as insensitive.
"So much for 'We're all in this together,' " Obama campaign manager Jim Messina tweeted.
"Gov. Romney hasn't proposed a single idea to help the struggling middle class or working poor," Nevada state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said in a conference call arranged by the Democratic National Committee to "welcome" Romney to Nevada.
Later, in remarks aboard his campaign plane, Romney renewed his support for automatic increases in the federal minimum wage to keep pace with inflation. Business groups and most Republicans widely oppose that. Romney has held that stance since he ran for Massachusetts' governor in 2002, arguing that it would take the issue out of political debate and provide desirable stability.
The exchange came as Romney emerged as the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination after winning the Florida primary Tuesday. The campaign heads into a three-week stretch in states that Romney won in 2008: caucuses Saturday in Nevada, Tuesday in Colorado and Minnesota, and Feb. 11 in Maine.
Romney campaigned Wednesday in Minnesota and Nevada. Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, campaigned in Nevada. Gingrich is expected to receive the endorsement of real estate mogul Donald Trump today, a source close to the Gingrich campaign told the Associated Press.
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