The Hill News

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) graded President Obama's time in office as a "DDD" presidency, testing out a new line of attack against the president as the race for the White House heats up.

Romney, referring to the decision by Standard & Poor's to downgrade U.S. debt from AAA to AA+ this month, said Obama's presidency wasn't a AAA one.

Rather, Romney said in New Hampshire, it's a "DDD presidency â€" it's a presidency that's been associated with debt and with downgrade and delay."

At a town hall in Exeter, which was streamed online, Romney kept his focus on the president, and less so on his competitors for the Republican presidential nomination.

Romney dodged a question on which of his fellow candidates he'd pick as his running mate if his choices were constrained to that bunch. He said it would be "presumptuous" for him or any of the other candidates to begin thinking about picking a vice presidential candidate.