Romney announces presidential exploratory committee

Says Obama economic policies have failed

Mitt Romney says President Obama's polices have failed.

WASHINGTON — Republican Mitt Romney is forming a presidential exploratory committee.

The former Massachusetts governor on Monday announced he would take the first step toward a White House run in a message posted online that focused largely on the nation’s economic woes. Romney said it’s time to “put America back on a course of greatness, with a growing economy, good jobs and fiscal discipline in Washington.”

Romney, who came up short when he sought the GOP nomination in 2008, says President Barack Obama’s policies have failed because he and most people on his team have never worked in the private sector. Romney has harshly criticized Obama and has laid the groundwork to run a presidential campaign as a referendum on Obama’s stewardship of the economy.