By Alex Leary, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, March 18, 2012
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Mitt Romney stood in an industrial manufacturing plant attacking President Barack Obama.
"He's a nice guy, but he's in over his head," Romney said. "We need to have a president who understands the economy if we're going to fix the economy."
The campaign arranged for plant employees to sit behind Romney, stagecraft that would play well on TV a day before Ohio's crucial Republican presidential primary earlier this month. But the workers provided a different script.
"Times were tough around here," 35-year-old Chris Marrone said in an interview. "Everybody was nervous, but we're starting to see orders coming in."
A slow but measurable economic comeback — from lower unemployment to a soaring stock market, higher auto sales and daily improvement in battered areas like Youngstown — is complicating the Republican game plan.
Unemployment, still dangerously ...