Now that the Dow is 60 percent higher than when Obama took office and the jobs picture is getting better every month, Republicans have a problem. They can't simply talk about how terrible the economy is, because all the headlines are saying it's getting better.

So Willard introduced a new twist. The economy is recovering from the Bush/Cheney Recession, he said, but not because of Obama.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said today President Barack Obama’s policies have harmed the U.S. economy, hindered its recovery and may cause damage for years.

“The Obama administration’s assault on our economic freedom is the principal reason why the recovery has been so tepid,” Romney said in a speech at the University of Chicago the day before the Illinois primary, which polls indicate he’s favored to win.

“If we don’t change course now, the assault on freedom could damage our economy and the well-being of American families for decades to come,” he said.

One wonders which "assault" on our "economic freedom" Willard finds most worrisome. Do you think it's the historically-low taxes, the record corporate profits, or the health care law that was modeled after his own, that doesn't take effect until 2014?

At any rate, I'm sure the answer is more tax cuts for rich people. And of course, fewer regulations.

“Day by day, job-killing regulation by regulation, bureaucrat by bureaucrat, he’s crushing the dream and the dreamers,” said Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and co-founder of the Bain Capital LLC private-equity firm.

Of course, George W. Bush was a bigger regulator than Obama — and there are fewer government "bureaucrats" now than when Obama took office — but when you're campaigning in the 2012 Republican presidential primary, facts are of little use.

We'll see how long this "Obama screwed up the Obama recovery" approach lasts. Based on Willard's track record, I'm guessing not long.