In an interview with the AP, President Obama argues that voters don't view Mitt Romney as a person with solutions to offer on the economy, and points to the debates in October as his best chance of putting Romney on the spot:

Obama appeared intent on countering Romney ahead of the convention. In doing so, the president depicted his opponent as having accumulated ideas far outside the mainstream with no room to turn back. …

Obama expressed confidence that even voters whose lives have not improved during his term will stick with him as they assess the two candidates.

"If they saw Gov. Romney offering serious proposals that offered some sort of concrete ways in which middle-class families would be helped, then I could understand them thinking about that choice," Obama said. "But that's not what's happening."

The moment that could finally shake up a close race could come in the three debates Obama and Romney hold in October. The president said Romney could run into trouble because of arguments that are not backed up by facts, citing a widely debunked television ad campaign in which Romney accuses Obama of gutting the work requirement in the federal welfare law.

"It will be a little tougher to defend face-to-face," Obama said.