Obama on rebound after faceoff with Romney

DENVER -- Mitt Romney basked in rave reviews yesterday after his first faceoff with the president, envisioning an inaugural celebration, while President Barack Obama and his allies tried to rebound by accusing Romney of dishonesty on the debate stage.

Obama told supporters on the brisk autumn morning-after in Denver's Sloan's Lake Park that the Romney who showed up for the debate isn't the candidate he's been running against.

"He knows full well that we don't want what he's been selling for the last year," Obama said. "Gov. Romney may dance around his positions, but if you want to be president, you owe the American people the truth."

Romney sent a fundraising email to supporters with the subject "Victory in sight" and was visibly buoyed.

The former Massachusetts governor ignited loud sustained cheers when he made a surprise appearance at a gathering of Colorado's Conservative Political Action Conference.

"You guys are going to have to cheer here, and then go out and knock on doors, and get people who voted for President Obama to see the light and come join our team," he said. "And if you do that, we'll all be able to come together and have a wonderful inauguration celebration in January."

He said the debate was "an opportunity for the American people to see two very different visions for the country."

"I saw the president's vision as trickle-down government, and I don't think that's what America believes in," Romney said. "I see instead a prosperity that comes through freedom."

The Obama campaign looked to recover by questioning Romney's honesty.

The campaign quickly produced a television ad that argues Romney wasn't leveling with the American people in the debate about his tax plan and questions how he could then be trusted in the White House. The attacks were echoed by other Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said Romney was "peddling snake oil" by hiding details of his plan.

Vice President Joe Biden also questioned Romney's honesty while campaigning in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

"Ultimately, presidential races, unlike any other race, get down to character. They get down to the character of the man or woman and the character of their convictions: Do they mean what they say and will they do what they say," Biden said.

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams responded to the accusations of dishonesty by saying Romney demonstrated in the debate why he should be president.

"In full damage-control mode, President Obama today offered no defense of his record and no vision for the future," Williams said. "Rather than a plan to fix our economy, President Obama simply offered more false attacks and renewed his call for job-killing tax hikes."

The Nielsen ratings company says an estimated 67.2 million people watched the first debate between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney, the largest TV audience for a presidential debate since 1992.