Republicans pounce on Barack Obama videos

Mitt Romney's efforts to stem the bleeding have been helped by the emergence of two videos in which Barack Obama makes comments which are now being used against him.

Yesterday, the Republican pounced on an interview the President gave this week to a Spanish-language television station, Univision, in which he reflected on his failure to enact immigration reform in his first term. "The most important lesson I've learned is that you can't change Washington from the inside, you can only change it from the outside," Mr Obama said, blaming Republicans in Congress for blocking an overhaul. Mr Romney promptly accused his opponent of throwing in "the white flag of surrender." In 2008, "His slogan was 'Yes we can'," he reminded supporters. "His slogan now is 'No I can't'."

The second video used 14-year-old footage of Obama, as a senator declaring: "I actually believe in redistribution." Hours after it emerged, it was included in a Romney ad, which accused Obama of endorsing European-style socialism.