Paul Ryan delivered a scathing criticism of President Barack Obama's stewardship of the nation's economy Monday, arguing that even conservative punching bag Jimmy Carter's presidency was better as Democrats streamed to the state to nominate Obama for a second term.

"The president can say a lot of things and he will," the Republican vice presidential candidate told more than 2,000 supporters in East Carolina University's student recreation center, about 230 miles east of the Democratic National Convention site in Charlotte. "But he can't tell you that you're better off. Simply put, the Jimmy Carter years look like the good old days compared to where we are right now."

The message, comparing today's economic problems with the troubled economic conditions of the Carter administration, is part of a broader GOP strategy to ask voters whether they are better off now than they were four years ago. Polling suggests the criticism may resonate with voters who continue to like Obama personally but are frustrated with the pace of economic recovery two months before Election Day.

"Team Obama can't say the country is better off after four years," said Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer. "This will be the most effective counter-programming effort ever conducted by the GOP."

A Republican staff of roughly 50 has gathered in a temporary headquarters just outside the perimeter of the Democratic convention site. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's team, backed by the RNC, will host daily news conferences, release Web videos and feature prime-time speakers including South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio initially was scheduled to visit Charlotte as well, but he likely will not because of a personal conflict, according to a Republican aide. Priebus hosted a Monday news conference to launch the "Obama Isn't Working" rapid response center in Charlotte.

"Here in Charlotte, the president is going to be on defense," Priebus declared.

Romney, meanwhile, will spend much of the week in New Hampshire and Vermont preparing for three fall debates with Obama, the first on Oct. 3.

On Monday Romney relaxed with his wife at their lakeside estate in New Hampshire, taking a midmorning boat ride to fuel his 29-foot Sea Ray and pick up a Sea Doo jet ski that needed repairs.

Ryan will play a more prominent role in day-to-day campaigning during the week. After visiting in North Carolina on Monday, he was scheduled to campaign Tuesday in Ohio and Iowa. Visits to Colorado, California and Washington state also were being planned.

The Romney campaign has distributed fresh talking points to supporters seizing on the idea that Obama has failed to deliver and linking the president to former president Carter.

One talking point echoes Ryan's comments in Greenville: "Every president since the Great Depression, except Jimmy Carter and President Obama, who asked voters for a second term could look back at the last four years and say: `You are better off today than you were four years ago.' No president has ever asked to be re-elected with this many Americans out of work."

Asked the "better off" question _ a staple of presidential campaigns _ Obama adviser David Plouffe sidestepped a direct answer, telling ABC's "This Week": "We've clearly improved ... from the depths of the recession." Another Obama aide, David Axelrod, told "Fox News Sunday": "I think the average American recognizes that it took years to create the crisis that erupted in 2008 and peaked in January of 2009. And it's going to take some time to work through it."

In the most recent Associated Press-GfK poll, 28 percent said they were better off than four years ago, while 36 percent said they were worse off and 36 percent said they were in about the same financial position.

Another Republican talking point suggests there is only one remedy: "If we want a new direction, we need a new president."

"People are not better off than they were four years ago," Ryan told an overflow crowd of about 700 before leaving the Greenville rally. "After another four years of this, who knows what it'll look like then. We're not going to let that happen."

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Associated Press Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.