WASHINGTON (AP) - Millions of Americans are desperate for work, runaway government spending clouds the future and Democratic and Republican candidates are busy making one thing clear: They're light years apart on what to do about it.
They do agree that the economy is everything in this election. President Barack Obama calls it "the defining issue of our time." But for voters wishing Washington would come together in a time of crisis, Obama, his Republican rival Mitt Romney and their congressional allies don't offer much hope.
Instead, they've taken to describing the gulf on economic policy in galactic terms. An Obama adviser declares that Romney must be "on a different planet." And the Republican Party chief says the president is "living in an alternative universe."
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