Romney, Obama waste no time in firing first shots

Mendenhall, Pennsylvania The 2012 presidential general election has begun. It won't be pretty.

Tuesday marked day one, in essence, of the contest between the two virtually certain nominees, Republican Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama. Rick Santorum's departure removed the last meaningful bump from Romney's path to the GOP nomination.

Romney and Obama wasted no time in portraying the voters' choice in dire, sometimes starkly personal terms.

Romney, making his second presidential bid, attacked Obama with gusto on Tuesday in his two public events that followed Santorum's announcement.

Right course

Campaigning in Pennsylvania, Romney portrayed Obama as a weak leader who apologises for America's greatness and prefers European-style socialism over robust free enterprise.

"The right course for America is not to divide America," Romney told a GOP dinner gathering in Mendenhall, near Philadelphia. "That's what he's doing," he said of Obama.

Obama, campaigning in Florida, said the choice will be as stark as in the 1964 contest between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater, which resulted in one of the biggest Democratic landslides ever.

Obama didn't mention Romney by name. His top aides have shown less restraint, however.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement after Santorum's withdrawal: "It's no surprise that Mitt Romney finally was able to grind down his opponents under an avalanche of negative ads. But neither he nor his special interest allies will be able to buy the presidency with their negative attacks. The more the American people see of Mitt Romney, the less they like him."