The Hill News

Contours of how Mitt Romney and Rick Perry will campaign against each other emerged on Monday, as each questioned the economic record of the other.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, speaking in New Hampshire, stressed his record in the private sector as his primary qualification to win the Republican presidential nomination.

"I'm not going to need a primer on the economy if I'm lucky enough to be elected president," he said at a town hall in New Hampshire that was streamed online.

Specifically when it comes to Perry, Romney said that "having worked in the real economy is finally essential in the White House," CNN reported.

It echoes a response that Romney gave Thursday during the GOP presidential debate in Ames, Iowa.

"Herman Cain and I are the two on the stage here who've actually worked in the real economy," Romney said that evening. "If people want to send to Washington someone who spent their entire career in government, they can choose a lot of folks. But if they want to choose somebody who understands how the private sector works, they're going! to have to choose one of us, because we've been in it during ! our care er."

Economic management is the proverbial feather in the cap for both Romney and Perry. The Texas governor boasts of one of the best job creation records in his state amid a tough economic environment, those his detractors say those numbers aren't as rosy as they seem.

Perry got a question on Romney's comments from reporters on the ground at the Iowa State Fair, where the Texan was campaigning.

"Take a look at his record when he was governor. Take a look at my record," Perry responded, according to a New York Times reporter.