Romney boasts jobs plan in new ad

Hours after the first presidential debate, Mitt Romney reiterated his pledge to create 12 million jobs in a new television ad released Thursday morning.

"Let me tell you how I will create 12 million jobs when President Obama couldn't," Romney says, looking into the camera.

The GOP presidential nominee claims his energy plan would reap more than three million new jobs, including jobs in manufacturing.

"My tax reform plan to lower rates for the middle class and for small business creates seven million more," he adds.

Romney says his other economic policies, such as "cracking down on China and improving job training," would push jobs over the 12 million mark.

His campaign first outlined the target number in August, with his advisers predicting Romney's plan would add between .5% and 1% per year in gross domestic product on top of the 2.5% annual growth rate that the Congressional Budget Office currently projects.

The addition of 12 million jobs over just four years would be one of the strongest periods of employment growth in recent history and would require the economy to consistently add 250,000 jobs every 30 days for 48 straight months.

However, as recently as Wednesday night during the Denver debate, Romney faced criticism for failing to name specifics in his economic policies, namely those that involve financial reform, health care reform and deficit reduction.

"America does best when the middle class does best," President Barack Obama said in response to a question on job creation, adding that Romney's plan of tax cuts for the rich had failed before and would fail again now.

Describing the Romney tax plan as a $5 trillion cut, Obama echoed a line from former President Bill Clinton by saying the math doesn't add up without increasing tax revenue, which Romney rejects.

"I think math, common sense and our history shows us that's not a recipe for job growth," Obama said.

The president himself, however, took heat for stating his administration oversaw the creation of 5 million new jobs.

While the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms that 4.4 million jobs were created, Obama did not say that the nation shed 4.3 million jobs during the early days of his term, and that the net gain since he took the oath of office in January 2009 is just 125,000 jobs.

Romney is expected to push his jobs plan Thursday while he hits the trail with his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, in the crucial battleground of Virginia. The GOP nominee will campaign in Fishersville, Virginia, where they'll be joined by country music star Trace Adkins.

The Romney campaign did not say Thursday where the television ad would run.