Obama sticks Romney with ‘Band-Aid’ remark

It’s been clear for months that the Obama campaign believes its Republican opponent in 2012 will be Mitt Romney.

The GOP primary fight is still underway, of course, but Romney is the one that President Obama’s campaign surrogates are targeting--not Herman Cain, not Newt Gingrich and not Rick Perry.

In his trip to Scranton on Wednesday, Obama himself got into the act, taking a veiled swipe at the former Massachusetts governor.

In a Republican presidential debate last month, Romney had referred to the payroll tax cut embraced by Obama as an example of “temporary little Band-Aids’’ that won’t fundamentally help the economy.

Democrats had fun with that answer, casting Romney as out of touch with everyday Americans who could use the extra $1,000 a year flowing from the tax cut.

Obama flew to Scranton on Wednesday to make the case for an expanded tax break that would boost the annual savings to $1,500 for the typical family.

He didn’t mention Romney by name, but his meaning was obvious when he said, “You know, $1,500 – that’s not a Band-Aid for middle-class families. That’s a big deal. How many people here could use an extra $1,500?”

The audience clapped.

“Yes, I thought so.’’

It’s on, isn’t it?