McConnell demurs on Romney criticism

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) demurred Sunday when asked to comment on recent criticism from Republicans directed towards the Romney campaign, saying instead that the focus should be on President Obama's missteps.

“I think a better use of my time is to criticize the guys we are running against,” McConnell said on CNN's "State of the Union," when asked about the Romney campaign’s performance, in particular, their response to the Supreme Court ruling upholding much of Obama's healthcare reform law.

Romney’s campaign last week appeared to struggle in defining the individual mandate provision in the healthcare law as a tax or a penalty. Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said the candidate viewed it as a penalty, undermining GOP attempts to characterize the health law as a tax increase. On July 4, Romney clarified his position saying that the court had "spoken" and the measure was a tax.

But McConnell on Sunday refused to wade into the debate. “I am not here to critique the Romney campaign,” he said.

“I do think that we have plenty to run against. The president has got a very, very poor record, that is why he doesn’t want to talk about it,” he added, citing tepid job growth in recent months.

McConnell said Romney has a “great chance” of beating President Obama.

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