The Republican’s camp unveiled a new ad and line of attack that argue Mr. Obama has practiced a perverted form of crony capitalism during his first 31/2 years in office — to the detriment of the American middle class. …

The GOP attack came as both camps intensified their efforts to control the early narrative of the campaign. President Obama traveled to Ohio Monday to highlight a new line of attack against the former Massachusetts governor, touting a new “nonpartisan” report that Mr. Obama claimed showed Mr. Romney’s economic plan would send hundreds of thousands of jobs overseas. …

“Today is something that I’d like to see more of, and a lot of people on the GOP side want [Mr. Romney] to take on Obama himself,” said GOP strategist Noelle Nikpour. “People in the GOP are looking for him to come out swinging, rather than letting the Super PACs do the swinging for him. So he’s doing what he needs to be doing. And he’s doing it himself. Now it’s Obama versus Mitt Romney and Romney versus Obama. Get used to this.”