Romney Says Obama Focused on “Character Assassination”

Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney says his campaign is about the future while President Barack Obama's is about "character assassination."

But he offered no examples, telling reporters he would leave it for them to assess.

Romney commented Thursday after supporters abandoned a potential $10 million ad strategy that would have highlighted Obama's ties to his controversial former pastor.

Campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla., Romney said he repudiated that effort and called it the "wrong course" for a campaign or supporters to pursue. Romney said he would prefer that his allies focus on the economy and jobs.

A group of Republican consultants had pitched the ad campaign. After a New York Times report Thursday on the proposal, the billionaire businessman who considered bankrolling it shelved the idea.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)