Updated 4:54 p.m. ET

Mitt Romney is digging at President Obama's recent remarks on the lack of job growth with a new video today, as GOP presidential hopefuls gather for their first debate in New Hampshire.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, is leading a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll for the GOP nomination. He is staking his presidential hopes on winning the first-in-the-nation primary in the Granite State, with the idea that it will catapult him toward the party nomination.

"I'm an American, not a bump in the road," say the people featured in Romney's new video.

Obama said during a June 3 speech at a Jeep plant in Toledo that "there are always going to be bumps in the road to recovery." His remarks came on the same day that it was reported the unemployment rate notched up to 9.1% in May.

Romney, who is making the president's handling of the economy the centerpiece of his campaign, is asking voters to sign a petition on his Facebook page. He asks voters to send a message to Obama that "unemployment is real. It will take a real leader to recognize that and do something about it."

White House press secretary Jay Carney defended Obama's use of the phrase, saying the president was trying to illustrate the challenges ahead. "His meaning is clear, which is that we are headed in the right direction, but it is not necessarily a smooth path," Carney said.

The Democratic National Committee is hitting back at Romney, putting out a "fact check" release saying Massachusetts ranked47th out of 50th in job growth while the Republican was governor. The DNC has also issued a statement on "five facts about Mitt Romney."

Romney is "running on a promise to create jobs, but as a corporate executive, he closed down factories; as a policymaker, he presided over one of the worst state economies in the country," the DNC says.

Tonight, Romney will be one of seven GOP candidates taking the stage at 8 p.m. ET at Saint Anselm College in a debate sponsored by CNN, The Union Leader and WMUR. It's the first New Hampshire debate of the political season.

New Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum will also be at the debate. This is the first debate this year for Romney, Gingrich and Bachmann.

A group launched by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to defend the state's health care law signed by Romney is on the air with its first TV ad. The ad, running in the Boston TV market and on WMUR, hits the GOP plan to revamp Medicare.

Representatives of the group, Protect Your Care, will be on hand at the GOP debate tonight to "thank" Romney for his role in signing Massachusetts' health care law, which was the inspiration for the federal law Republicans want to repeal.

We'll be live blogging the debate tonight here in On Politics. USA TODAY's Susan Page will have more on the faceoff in Tuesday's editions.