A day after the secret trip of President Obama to Afghanistan on the first anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney came to the Washington, D.C. suburbs and did his best to turn the page, using a campaign stop in Virginia to focus on economic issues.
"Three and a half years into his Presidency, this economy is still bumping along the bottom," Romney said in Chantilly, Virginia.
"My vision for America is very different than this President's vision," Romney added in the first of two days of campaigning in Virginia, as he vowed to "do the opposite" of what the Obama Administration has done in terms of spurring economic growth.
Usually, Virginia has been a reliable Republican win, but growth in the suburbs of northern Virginia around Washington, D.C., helped Barack Obama win the Old Dominion in 2008, the first time a Democrat had won Virginia since 1964.
Even Jimmy Carter couldn't win Virginia when he defeated Gerald Ford in 1976.
On Thursday, Romney will stump for votes with the Governor of Virginia, Robert McDonnell, who is seen by some as another possible choice for a Romney running mate.
Recent polling in Virginia has been mixed, with the last four polls split on who has the advantage between Romney and the President.
The sole focus on the economy in Romney's remarks on Wednesday seemed like an effort by Team Romney to avoid getting sucked into another news cycle focused on Afghanistan and bin Laden - instead Romney took aim at what some believe is the most fertile ground for the GOP, that being economic troubles.
But Virginia is doing better than most states, as unemployment fell there in March for a fourth straight month - reaching a three year low at 5.6%, the ninth lowest rate in the nation.
Virginia's jobless rate hit a high of 7.3% in January 2010, but has been trending downward since, giving Democrats hope that better economic times will mean a better chance for an Obama victory.
The President will be in Virginia on Friday, when he discusses student loan interest rates during a visit to a high school in Arlington, Virginia - just across the Potomac River from the White House.
