(CNN) -- President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney traded accusations on tax policy Thursday, with both claiming at campaign stops in battleground states that the other's strategies have failed. Romney used a rally in Golden, Colorado, to unveil a simplified campaign message called for by some Republican strategists, laying out a five-point plan that he said would put the nation back on the correct economic path. The proposals are traditional conservative stances on domestic energy production, trade, job training, deficit reduction and boosting small businesses, with Romney promising that, if elected, he would deliver on them to unleash the full potential of the U.S. economy.
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NEW: Mitt Romney appears on stage with some potential VP nominees
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Romney lays out a five-point plan for the country
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President Obama ridicules what he calls Republican "tax cut fairy dust"
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Both candidates campaign Thursday in battleground states
They have not gotten @placeholder back to work again," Romney said of Obama, citing 41 straight months of unemployment over 8%.