Party chiefs spar over Obama, Romney

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WASHINGTON, July 8 (UPI) -- Leaders of the two major U.S. political parties traded broadsides Sunday over whether President Obama or Mitt Romney would be a bigger disaster.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Florida Democrat who is head of the Democratic National Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" that Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, had failed to spark the Massachusetts economy during his stint as governor and had settled on an economic platform that basically toadied to the wealthy.

"I think folks at home are sitting and listening to Mitt Romney saying we should go back -- the answer is let's go back to the failed policies of the past and repeat the same playbook that got us into this economic mess in the first place," Wasserman Schultz said. "Romney's budget would actually make sure that the wealthiest, most fortunate Americans get more and more tax breaks."

Wasserman Schultz dismissed the GOP's overtures to minority voters, saying she saw great enthusiasm for an Obama re-election among blacks and Hispanics despite the tepid economy.

"President Obama has been committed to not just getting the economy turned around and creating jobs, but closing the achievement gap in education for Hispanics and African-Americans, investing in education and innovation, and making sure that we can keep folks in their homes," she said.

Reince Priebus, candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, participate in a debate in Washington on January 3, 2011. UPI/Kevin Dietsch

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Republican National Committee chief Reince Priebus countered that Obama's first term was a bottom-line flop because unemployment remained mired near 8 percent despite assurances the high-priced economic stimulus would reduce the unemployment rate to about 5 percent.

"I don't know if she (Wasserman Schultz) is on vacation in New Hampshire or on Mars," Priebus scoffed. "The fact of the matter is people are not better off today than they were three or four years ago."

Priebus accused the Democrats of falsely painting Romney as a proponent of replacing U.S. workers with low-paying foreign factories, and said Obama had refused to take a strong stand against China's reputedly unfair economic policies.

"The only job that we need to make sure we outsource in this country is Barack Obama's job," Priebus said. "And we have to do that because No. 1, he hasn't been truthful to the American people, hasn't fulfilled the mission."