WASHINGTON - While Mitt Romney brushed off a question regarding the attacks on his experience at Bain Capital this morning, one of his senior advisers today did respond, saying that the campaign "likes" that the discussion is focused on the economy and will continue to drive the conversation in that direction.

"We're happy to compare Gov. Romney's record of success both at the state house in Massachusetts and as a businessman for 25 years in the private sector to the lack of real world economy experience of President Obama," said senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom during a conference call with reporters before Romney's speech to the Latino Coalition's 2012 Small Business Summit Luncheon this afternoon.

"At Bain Capital during the period of time that Mitt Romney was leading that company, Bain invested in approximately 100 companies, many of them are big brand names that you're familiar with, like Staples and Sports Authority, and some of them were struggling and some of them could not be saved," said Fehrnstrom. "That's the nature of our free enterprise system."

"But we like the fact that the discussion is centered on jobs and the economy, and we intend to continue to talk about the plight of 23 million Americans today who are faced with either no employment or they're stuck in part-time jobs when what they really want is full-time work," he said. The economy has undoubtedly been the pillar of Romney's campaign since it was launched last spring.

Earlier today Romney was asked about the Bain attacks aboard a charter flight to Washington to which he did not respond.

The candidate has not spoken publicly since President Obama said earlier this week that Romney's time at Bain was "not a distraction" and was "what this campaign is going to be about," releasing only a written statement condemning the president's remarks.