FREMONT, Calif. — Stage craft and scripts shaped the presidential campaign Thursday as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama sought an edge on voters’ No. 1 issue, the economy.
On one coast, Romney made a surprise trip to the former California headquarters of solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra to accuse Obama of currying favor with campaign supporters by giving a federal loan to the green-energy company that later went bankrupt.
“This half-a-billion-dollar taxpayer investment represents a serious conflict of interest on the part of the president and his team,” Romney said outside the shuttered company. He held it up as Exhibit A of presidential missteps on the economy.
He offered no proof of his claim during a visit that was shrouded in a highly unusual amount of secrecy because, aides said, the campaign feared Obama would interfere with his Republican rival’s plans to appear there.
At roughly the same time across the country in Boston, Obama’s campaign staged its own event outside Massachusetts’ statehouse to argue that Romney’s record as governor from 2003 to 2007 proves he is ill-prepared to manage the nation’s economy.
“Romney economics didn’t work then, and it won’t work now,” Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said at a news conference, pointing to a poor record of job creation, increased fees and the addition of $2.6 billion to the state’s debt on Romney’s watch.
Axelrod’s appearance attracted several dozen Romney supporters, including many who protested loudly by chanting “Where are the jobs?” and holding signs that read, “Obama isn’t working.”
The competing events showed the degree to which Obama and Romney’s teams are trying to undercut each other’s economic credentials during the nation’s slow-moving recovery.
The jockeying also came a day before today’s May employment report, which will offer the latest window into the nation’s economy.
Obama stayed above the fray Thursday at the White House. He appeared with former President George W. Bush for the unveiling of Bush’s official portrait during a rare, nonpolitical event in an election year.
Obama had little to say about the campaign and kept a bipartisan tone during the unveiling.
