Obama, Romney tangle on health care, jobs

MANALAPAN, Fla. — President Barack Obama is warning Florida retirees that Republican challenger Mitt Romney would undercut the new health care law and alter Medicare, a play for voters in one of the nation's top swing states.

Obama on Friday was cutting short a two-day trip to Florida after a stop in Fort Myers. A second event, scheduled for suburban Orlando, was canceled because of the developing story in Colorado, where a gunman opened fire at a suburban Denver movie theater, killing 12 people.

Obama was expected to comment on the shooting at his campaign rally in Fort Myers, then return to the White House earlier than originally planned.

The day's tragic events also forced schedule changes for Obama's Republican rival, Mitt Romney, who canceled several radio interviews he was scheduled to tape Friday. But he was going ahead with an appearance in New Hampshire.

Both Obama and Romney offered their condolences and called for prayers and unity after the shooting.

It remained to be seen whether the episode would inject the volatile issue of gun rights — largely missing during the months of heated campaigning — into the election debate. Obama said his administration would support the people of Aurora and called for the nation to "come together as one American family." Romney called the shootings "senseless violence" and called for the perpetrator to be "quickly brought to justice."

In pre-convention summertime campaigning, Obama and Romney are locked in a tight contest and seeking advantages in about a dozen toss-up states that could help decide the election. None is more prominent than Florida, which narrowly decided the 2000 election and could provide a major boost to whoever prevails here.

In Fort Myers, Obama was expected to press the case that retirees would be hurt by Romney's opposition to the health care law and by Republican-led efforts to turn Medicare into a "voucher program." Romney is keeping his focus on the economy, charging that Obama remains more concerned about keeping his job than creating jobs for others.

Obama, addressing elderly residents of a sprawling South Florida condominium complex on Thursday, jumped on Romney's opposition to the health care law. He said repeal of the law, which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court, would force more than 200,000 Floridians to pay more for their prescription drugs.

The president charged Romney with seeking to turn Medicare into a voucher program, drawing jeers from retirees at West Palm Beach's Century Village, home to thousands of reliably Democratic voters.