海角大神

Mitt聽Romney聽demanded Monday that President Barack Obama back away from his persistent聽attacks聽on聽Romney's聽record at Bain Capital, advising that it would be better "if you spent some time speaking about your record."

"What does it say about a president whose record is so poor that all he can do in this campaign is聽attack聽me,"Romney聽said in a nationally broadcast interview.

Obama said an interview that he has run mostly positive campaign ads but said they have not been given much attention in the media.

In his interview on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends,"聽Romney聽was asked whether Obama should apologize for a series of statements and campaign commercials suggesting that聽Romney聽has not been truthful in his accounts of his record as head of Bain Capital, a private equity firm.

Romney聽responded, "I think when people have accused you of a crime, you have every reason to go after them pretty hard." He defended his business record but did not demand an apology from Obama.聽Romneyalso declined to make a fuller disclosure of tax returns than he has already committed himself to releasing.

The latest exchange of barbs came as Obama prepared for a town meeting Monday in Ohio, a critical state for both candidates this year, and聽Romney聽was poised to join Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on a fundraising trip.

Obama's campaign has been arguing that聽Romney's聽record at Bain Capital indicates that jobs were shipped overseas under his watch. That pitch has been given a lot of attention at a time when the nation's unemployment rate remains above 8 percent and millions are out of work.

Asked about this,聽Romney聽said he was "very proud of the record I had in my business career." He added: "I'd say to the president, wouldn't it be interesting Mr. President, wouldn't it be interesting if you spent some time speaking about your record."

"A campaign spent on false charges and dishonesty doesn't have long legs,"聽Romney聽said.

"When millions upon millions of dollars are given by the Obama administration to the businesses of campaign contributors, that's a real problem, particularly at time when the middle class is really suffering in this country," the former Massachusetts governor said. "This is a tough time in America. But if you're a contributor to Barack Obama your business may stand to get billions or hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the government. I think it's wrong. I think it stinks to high heaven."

Obama, in an interview broadcast on "CBS This Morning" Monday, was asked about the large number of negative ads that have been run against聽Romney聽by his campaign in recent weeks.

"If you look at the ads that we do," he replied, "first of all, we've done a whole slew of positive ads that talk exactly about how we need to change our education system, how we need to change our tax code, how we need to rebuild America, how we need to promote American energy So those just don't get attention in the news."

"I've got a very different approach," Obama said. "And the more detailed we get into what he's saying and what I'm saying, I think that serves the democratic process well."

Romney聽was asked about statements by Obama supporters, including Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, that he simply "stop whining" about the Obama聽attacks. He responded, "The best offense is to look at the president's record. ... He just hasn't been able to do the job he was going to try and do."

"The president has only one thing going and that is constant聽attacks聽on me,"聽Romney聽said. "They're dishonest, they're misdirected and I think the American people recognize that kind of politics is something of the past. It may work in Chicago, but it's not going to work across America."

Romney聽refused calls by Democrats 鈥� and some Republicans 鈥� to release several years of tax returns. He said the Obama campaign was only looking "for more things for their opposition research to try to make a mountain out of and to distort and to be dishonest about."

Romney聽has released his 2010 returns and has pledged he will also release a complete return for 2011, but no more.

Republican Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama suggested at a governor's conference this weekend that聽Romneydo a fuller release of tax reforms.

Romney's聽campaign said Sunday that Obama is willing to say anything to win a second term and should say he's sorry for聽attacking聽the Republican's successful career at Bain Capital.

"No, we will not apologize," the president responded, adding that if聽Romney聽wants credit for his business leadership, he also needs to take responsibility. The Obama campaign says that with聽Romney聽at the helm, Bain Capital sent thousands of well-paying American jobs to China.

Questions about聽Romney's聽tenure at Bain Capital, the fortune he earned there, foreign bank accounts and his refusal to release more of his tax returns have dogged the former Massachusetts governor.聽Romney聽insists he left the firm in February 1999 to take over the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, but documents indicate he was still in charge as late as 2001.

Romney's聽advisers, trying to explain the discrepancies between聽Romney's聽account and federal documents, offered fresh explanations to shift the campaign back to more comfortable ground.

"He actually retired retroactively at that point,"聽Romney聽adviser Ed Gillespie said Sunday. "He ended up not going back to the firm after his time in Salt Lake City. So he was actually retired from Bain."

A second adviser, Kevin Madden, said聽Romney聽had no choice but to have his name listed on Security and Exchange Commission documents as he sought to transfer the company's leadership to partners.

"The reason that there is a document that had ... his signature is because, during that transition from 1999 to 2002 ... there was a duty to sign those documents," Madden said.

The exact role聽Romney聽played at the firm between 1999 and 2001 is important not only because critics have raised questions about his truthfulness, but also because Bain was sending U.S. jobs overseas during the period.

Documents on file with the SEC place聽Romney聽in charge of Bain from 1999 to 2001, a period in which the company outsourced jobs and ran companies that fell into bankruptcy.聽Romney聽has tried to distance himself from this period in Bain's history, saying on financial disclosure forms he had no active role in the company as of February 1999.

But at least three times since then, Bain listed聽Romney聽as the company's "controlling person," as well as its "sole shareholder, sole director, chief executive officer and president." One of those documents 鈥� as late as February 2001 鈥� lists聽Romney's聽"principal occupation" as Bain's managing director.

Romney聽launched a rare, five-network interview blitz on Friday and insisted he was not involved with Bain during the time it sent jobs overseas and had no day-to-day responsibility for the firm.

"I had no role whatsoever in the management of Bain Capital after February of 1999," he said. "I was an owner, and being a shareholder doesn't mean you're running the business."

That wasn't enough for Obama.

"Mr.聽Romney聽claims he's Mr. Fix-It for the economy because of his business experience, so I think voters entirely legitimately want to know what is exactly his business experience," Obama told WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, Va., in an interview taped Saturday and posted on the station's website Sunday

"Mr.聽Romney聽is now claiming he wasn't there at the time except his filings with the SEC listing says he was the CEO, chairman and president of the company."

Gillespie appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "State of the Union. Madden spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation."