Romney will say Obama 'has failed America' in 2012 launch speech

President Obama "has failed America," former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will say in a Thursday speech in New Hampshire launching his presidential campaign.

Romney's speech to formally declare that he'll again seek the presidency will be heavy on economic themes and make the case that a Romney presidency would mean an intent focus on job creation. 

While voters in 2008 might have seen Obama as a new, fresh face who deserved a chance to lead, Romney will argue, it's time for another change. 

"Now, in the third year of his four-year term, we have more than promises and slogans to go by," Romney will say during a speech in New Hampshire. "Barack Obama has failed America."

The economy and job creation will be focal points of Romney's speech, and topics the former governor intends to stress in his campaign. A senior campaign adviser called the economy "the No. 1 issue facing the nation, and the reason he is compelled to get into this race."

This is Romney's second attempt for the Republican presidential nomination, and his campaign has sought to wage a leaner, more focused effort this time around. Whereas Romney launched his 2008 campaign in his native Michigan and was ever-present in the media and on the campaign trail, he's been more measured in approaching his campaign this time around. He's launching his campaign Thursday in the Granite State, signaling the importance of the first-in-the-nation primary state for his campaign. 

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) welcomed Romney into the race with a Web video that takes a page out of the 2008 playbook against Romney, casting him as the "most notorious flip-flopper in modern political history."

The former Massachusetts governor has sought to undercut that narrative with the consistent focus on the economy and with a speech explaining the healthcare law he signed during his time in office. 

Romney stuck by the healthcare plan, which has been derided by conservatives for its similarities to Obama's healthcare law, in a major speech in Ann Arbor, Mich., explaining that it would be dishonest to disown the plan. 

Romney will call for a "complete repeal" of Obama's healthcare law in his announcement speech, which also addresses a great deal of the economic anxiety felt by many voters. 

Worries about the economy spiked Wednesday on the heels of several private reports warning that the recovery was slowing; the government will release its employment figures on Friday. 

"[A]cross the richest, greatest country on earth, there are millions of American families like the Tylers," Romney will say, referring to a Nevada family he met in Las Vegas whose home value was decimated by the real estate market crash. "Folks who grew up believing that if they played by the rules, worked hard, that they would have the chance to build a good life, with steady work and always that possibility to work a little harder and get ahead."

The senior adviser said Romney would make the case that his experience in private business, as manager of the Salt Lake City Olympics and as governor would be a key part of his argument for why voters should choose him over Obama in 2012. 

"When President Obama was elected, we wondered what it would be like to elect a president with no experience, and now we know," the adviser said. "Mitt Romney, from a lifetime spent in the private sector, has the skills and the ability to lead an economic turnaround.”

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