Romney wraps up overseas trip in Poland

WASHINGTON -- Wrapping up a stumble-marred overseas trip, Mitt Romney pivoted quickly into a three-month stretch to the election Tuesday with a new feel-good television ad.

The economy was Romney's primary text abroad as well as at home. "We could probably learn something from what's happening right here," the former Massachusetts governor said of Polish policies shortly before boarding his chartered jet for the flight back to the United States. He arrived in Boston early Tuesdayevening.

Shorn of any criticism of Obama, the ad appears designed to introduce Romney to voters in battleground states who know little or nothing about his personal background except what they've seen and heard in unflattering commercials aired by Democrats.

In the final hours of his trip, in Warsaw, the Republican extolled the Polish economy as a model for the rest of the world in an era of slow growth or worse, and he simultaneously sought to limit the political fallout caused by comments he made earlier on a stop in Israel.

"The world should pay close attention to the transformation of the Polish economy" since the end of communist rule more than two decades ago, he said in a speech in the Polish capital city. "A march toward economic liberty and smaller government has meant a march toward higher living standards, a strong military that defends liberty at home and abroad and an important and growing role on the international stage."

As for one of the controversies on his trip, Romney said in the interview with Fox before leaving Europe that he hadn't been speaking about "the Palestinian culture or the decisions made in their economy" in his remarks earlier in the week that prompted one Palestinian official to question whether his views were racist.

Aides later said that despite any mistakes made during the trip, there was little evidence they would materially affect the campaign.

"I don't think that will go down in history as very important," said Stuart Stevens of possible missteps.

There were other uneven moments on what Romney and his aides had planned as an illustration of his ability to handle the world stage.

In London, he drew a tart response from Prime Minister David Cameron after wondering aloud whether the British had adequately prepared for the Olympic Games now under way.

Not surprisingly, he got nothing but criticism from the president's surrogates.

Robert Gibbs, a senior Obama campaign adviser, called the trip "an embarrassing disaster" for Romney.