>>>
now to the political fallout amid new fears the economy is sputtering. business added just 69,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate ticked up.
mitt romney
was quick to pounce and the president now finds himself quarly on the defensive. mike viqueira reports.
>> reporter:
waking up in chicago, the president took a stroll in his old neighborhood.
>>
did you cook breakfast?
>>
no, i woke up too late.
>> reporter:
on the president's plate, a disappointing may jobs report. today in his weekly address, the president defended his record on the economy.
>>
right now, this country is still fighting our way back from the worst economic crisis since the great depression. the economy's growing again, but not as fast as we'd like.
>> reporter:
experts say the bad news poses a serious threat.
>>
the greater the sense that the economy is not turning around and the president has failed, the more the burden is on him. the more the focus is on his presidency and his four years and not on
mitt romney
.
>> reporter:
reacting, romney pounce.
>>
and the president is always quick to find someone to blame. first, it was
george bush
, then congress,
atm machine
, then europe. the truth is, the job of the president is to get america back to work. crony capitalism like this did not help.
>> reporter:
romney has hammered away on the economy. thursday, appearing at solyndra, the
solar energy
firm that failed and he's keeping up the attack with a new
web ad
. a new nbc news battleground map shows
president obama
with the lead in lekkal votes.
>>
going into the summer, into the fall, this is when people are going to be making their decisions. very bad news for the
white house
.
>> reporter:
in the coming week, the
obama campaign
is going to be sending some massachusetts democratic lawmakers to some of those states to draw attention to what they feel is
mitt romney
's lackluster record of
governor of massachusetts
.
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