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HARTFORD, Conn. - Now that the path to his nomination has been cleared with the exit of Rick Santorum from the race, Mitt Romney today brushed aside critics who claim he's a "rich guy" who's  "out of touch."

Romney said that the general election only started 24 hours ago and he has plenty of time to appeal to voters. "But the person I'm out of touch with is Barack Obama - I'm in touch with the American people," he said in a TV interview.

"Martha, the campaign started yesterday, the general election," Romney said during the Fox News interview with host Martha MacCallum. "So it's a little early in the process. And so we have some time ahead, seven months to the general election."

"We're getting started with a general election campaign and people will get to know me better and they'll get to know him better as well," said Romney.

MacCallum told Romney that it is already clear the Obama re-election campaign will go after "the Cadillacs and the homes," referencing Romney's remarks that he and his wife own a "couple" of Cadillacs, and will try to paint him as "out of touch."

Romney said that this was the president's attempt to "divert from the failure of his record which he has not created jobs." Get Political Insights and The Note from ABC News