President Barack Obama addresses a campaign rally in Fairfax, Va. (Jason Reed/Reuters)President Barack Obama accused Mitt Romney of trying to win over independent voters by distancing himself from past partisan positions, mockingly describing his GOP rival's "Romnesia"—and saying Obamacare might help.
"He's forgetting what his own positions are, and he's betting that you will, too," Obama told some 9,000 people at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
"He's changing up so much and backtracking and sidestepping, we've got to name this condition that he's going through. I think it's called 'Romnesia,'" the president joked.
"Now, I'm not a medical doctor, but I do want to go over some of the symptoms with you—because I want to make sure nobody else catches it," Obama continued. He argued that Romney was dissembling on issues like fighting gender pay disparities, insurance coverage for contraception, and abortion—not coincidentally issues dear to women voters, a key part of the president's winning 2008 coalition.
"If you come down with a case of Romnesia and you can't seem to remember the policies that are still on your website, or the promises you've made over the six years you've been running for president, here's the good news: Obamacare covers preexisting conditions," Obama said to laughter and applause. "We can fix you up. We've got a cure. We can make you well, Virginia.This is a curable disease."
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The Romney campaign countered that women have not had much to smile about the last four years.
"Women haven't forgotten how we've suffered over the last four years in the Obama economy," said Barbarac Comstock, a Romney campaign surrogate.
"President Obama has failed to put forward a second-term agenda—and when you don't have a plan to run on, you stoop to scare tactics," she said.