Obama spoke to a crowd of 3,300 people on the Capital University quad. Obama: Mitt out of touch on loans

BEXLEY, Ohio — President Barack Obama says Mitt Romney’s wealth isn’t just about his Swiss bank accounts — it’s that the Republican candidate doesn’t have the perspective to understand the plight of today’s debt-laden college students.

The day after chiding his opponent from the White House podium for having far-from-average finances, Obama told a crowd of 3,300 people on the Capital University quad here that Romney — the son of an auto executive who became Michigan’s governor and a multi-millionaire himself — was out of touch with how the middle class struggles with higher education.


Obama chided Romney for telling Ohio college students in April that they should “borrow money if you have to from your parents” to get a head start in life and telling a high school student in March that he should “shop around” for the best deal on colleges.

“He didn’t say a word about community colleges or how important higher education is to America’s future, he said the best thing you can do is shop around,” Obama said. “The best thing I can do for you is to tell you to shop around. That’s it, that’s his plan. That’s his answer to young people who are trying to figure out how to go to college and make sure they don’t have a mountain of debt.”

Obama made no mention of Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, who attended Ohio’s public Miami University and as a teenager worked at a McDonald’s in his native Janesville, Wis. Ryan has been at the center of the president’s campaign speeches since his selection 10 days ago.

Instead Obama’s focus was on Romney and relaying his personal story.

In April, Romney addressed students at nearby Otterbein University. He urged them to take financial risks to start a business — but not to fund their education.

“This kind of divisiveness, this attack of success, is very different than what we’ve seen in our country’s history,” Romney said then, in a defense of attacks on his record at Bain Capital. “We’ve always encouraged young people: Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.”

On Tuesday, Obama said, “This is something Michelle and I know first hand about. I’m not speculating on this, because we’ve been in your shoes. Neither of us came from wealthy families. Both of us graduated from college and law school with a mountain of debt. When we married, we got poorer together. We, we combined our liabilities into one big liability. We paid more for our student loans than we paid on our mortgage each month. And that went on for years.”

In March, Romney urged students to “shop around” and compare tuition prices — and consider joining the military for GI Bill benefits — in response to a high school student in Youngstown who asked about how the candidate would lower college tuition rates.

But Obama blended the statements in his speech as he expanded his argument about Romney for not presenting a plan for the middle class on this, either.

“Now, I’ve just got to say, I want to make sure everybody understands, not everybody has parents who have the money to lend,” Obama said. “That may be news to some folks, but it’s the truth. So what Gov. Romney is offering is not an answer. There’s nothing a parent wants more than to give opportunities to their kids that they never had. And you know it’s pretty painful for a lot of parents if they can’t do that. But as we’re fighting back from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes, you’ve got a lot of parents out there who are struggling out there just to make ends meet.”

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg called Obama’s Ohio speech “more of the same” because of his failure to fix the economy.

“Just yesterday, President Obama told struggling college graduates to look at his ‘track record’ — but under this president, too many young Americans are suffering from higher college costs, more debt and a lack of good jobs when they graduate,” she said. “Today’s policies are just more of the same from a president who hasn’t fixed the economy or kept his promises to the young people who supported him four years ago. The Romney-Ryan plan will deliver 12 million new jobs to help recent graduates — and all Americans — enjoy a more prosperous future.”

The attention to education policy follows Obama’s Saturday radio address, which addressed the same topic. Then, as he did again Tuesday, Obama walked through his personal education history, again noting that he borrowed money to attend law school.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the president will focus on education this this week at Nevada campaign events scheduled for Tuesday afternoon in Reno and Wednesday in Las Vegas.

“It is an issue we have always felt was central to the choice the American people are making,” Psaki said. “This is the week we are highlighting the choice. And the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate only further solidifies his support for slashing key programs like education.”