Mitt Romney targets female voters in Virginia

— -- If anyone has doubts about Mitt Romney's efforts to woo female voters ahead of November's election, just look at the backdrop of his campaign event on Wednesday.

Speaking in Chantilly, Va., at Exhibit Edge, a female-owned firm that designs trade show exhibits and displays, the presumptive Republican nominee was surrounded by women. More than a dozen female business owners and entrepreneurs were invited to sit behind Romney at the event, putting them directly in the camera shot, while dozens of other women were seated in front of him.

While the event wasn't advertised as being geared toward women, a Romney spokesman says the campaign "reached out to female business leaders" since the venue where Romney was speaking was owned by a woman.

"Women do make the world go round," Romney's wife, Ann, declared when introducing her husband at the event.

In his remarks, Romney stuck to his usual stump speech of criticizing President Obama's handling of the economy. Offering an explanation of what he'd do if elected, Romney said he would "look at what the president's done, and do the opposite."

He emphasized how Obama's economic plan had hurt women, citing high unemployment. Eying his largely female audience, Romney vowed to "help your enterprises."

At the same time, his campaign released a fact sheet titled, "Obama's Record for Working Women is Nothing to Be 'Proud' About."

Romney's courtship of women comes as several polls have found his campaign struggling to connect with female voters. A NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released last month showed Obama leading Romney by 12 points among female voters. The gap is especially pronounced among single women, with Romney losing to Obama by 36 points among that group.

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