Romney back to campaign after uneven trip abroad

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wrapping up a stumble-marred overseas trip, Mitt Romney pivoted quickly into a three-month stretch to the election on Tuesday with a new feel-good television ad. Aides simultaneously stoked speculation about his vice presidential pick.

The economy was Romney’s primary text abroad as well as at home. “We could probably learn something from what’s happening right here,” the former Massachusetts governor said of Polish policies shortly before boarding his chartered jet for the flight back to the U.S. He arrived in Boston early Tuesday evening.

Advisers accompanying him said he would resume direct criticism of President Barack Obama’s record soon enough, after observing a mini-moratorium while on foreign soil. Yet a new television commercial suggested another immediate priority was to close a likeability gap in the polls.

Shorn of any criticism of Obama, the ad appears designed to introduce Romney to voters in battleground states who know little or nothing about his personal background except what they’ve seen and heard in unflattering commercials aired by Democrats.

In the ad, Romney speaks of his years in private business, in government and as the head of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City a decade ago and says, “I want to use those experiences to help Americans have a better future.”

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