ST. LOUIS -- Mitt Romney delivered a speech on Friday broadly decrying President Obama's "assault" on basic freedoms -- especially gun rights -- in a bid to court the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its 4 million or so members nationwide.

Romney largely avoided wading into thorny issues of gun control and the Second Amendment, issues which have dogged his past campaigns, and stuck to broader criticism of the president before this largely conservative audience.

Michael Conroy / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks April 13, 2012, at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, Mo.

"President Obama is moving us away from our founders vision," Romney told several thousand members of the NRA gathered here today. "Instead of limited government he is leading us toward limited freedom and limited opportunity."

Romney's speech today, in which he mentioned the word "gun" only once, focused largely on broad themes of freedoms, and, his advisers said, was designed to be one of several speeches which would "crystallize" the choice for voters between the presumptive GOP nominee and Obama.

To that end, Romney further pressed his vision of the fall election as a defining choice between two different destinies, and accused the Obama administration of curtailing Americans' personal, religious and economic freedoms. He referred to the NRA as a single-issue group -- that issue being freedom.

Eighteen minutes into his speech, Romney pivoted to Second Amendment issues, pledging to stand up for the rights of hunters, sportsman and other gun owners, and accusing the president of failing to do so.

"We need a President who will stand up for the rights of hunters, sportsmen, and those seeking to protect their homes and their families. President Obama has not; I will," he said.
 
"If we are going to safeguard our Second Amendment, it is time to elect a president who will defend the rights President Obama ignores or minimizes," Romney added. "And I will protect the Second Amendment rights of the American people."

Democrats shot back at Romney before his speech was even delivered.

“The president's record makes clear the he supports and respects the second amendment, and we'll fight back against any attempts to mislead voters. Mitt Romney is going to have difficulty explaining why he quadrupled fees on gun owners in Massachusetts then lied about being a lifelong hunter in an act of shameless pandering," Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement this morning. "That varmint won't hunt.”

Romney's history with second amendment and gun-ownership issues is a colorful one, from saying "I don't line up with the NRA," during his 1994 senate campaign, to being forced to backtrack on his skill as a hunter in 2008, ultimately admitting he only shot "small varmints." This campaign cycle, Romney has laughed about his lack of skill as a hunter, including with comedian Jeff Foxworthy in Alabama, whom he joked could help him figure out which end of the rifle to point.

The Republican frontrunner's speech also came, though, at one of the biggest recent flashpoints for gun rights in recent memory. The Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida has sparked nationwide coverage of "stand your ground" laws -- the self-defense law under which George Zimmerman, the man charged with second degree murder in Martin's death, is mounting his criminal defense.

Romney didn't address those laws in his speech, though his campaign said in a briefing with reporters on Friday morning that the former Massachusetts governor would defer to states to determine their own laws on that matter.

For Romney, winning over the NRA's roughly 4 million members nationwide will be a crucial part of rallying the party's base for November's elections. Conversations with NRA members here suggested he has a tough -- though certainly not insurmountable -- road ahead of him.

Mary Brucker, a retired IRS worker and proud hunter of moose who showed off photos of a successful hunt this summer in Alberta, Canada, was "torn" on Romney as an advocate for gun-owners' issues, saying she was considering not voting this fall.

"He's not really committed to our ideals and foundations," Brucker, who had also supported Santorum, said with a sigh.

Bob and Bonnie Merrill, auto shop owners from Maine, told NBC before Romney's speech they worried he was "wishy-washy" on the second amendment, but that while they had originally hoped to support Rick Santorum, they would "absolutely" back Romney against President Obama.

"I think he's better than Obama," Mrs. Merrill laughed when asked her feelings about Governor Romney's positions on gun issues.

"I think anybody is better than Obama when it comes to gun issues," her husband interjected.

But gun issues have largely fallen to the backburner in this election cycle. In a bow toward the dominant issue this week -- the women vote -- Romney's wife, Ann, offered a brief introduction of her husband.

"Let me give a shout out to all moms that are working, and by the way all dads that are working. We love all of you," she said, following a few day's worth of coverage of Mrs. Romney's decision to be a homemaker when her children were younger.

And Mitt Romney said of the issue in his introduction of Ann: "I happen to believe that all moms are working moms, and if you have five sons, your work is never over."

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. --  Rick Santorum cautioned Missouri voters on Saturday that jobs may not be the most important issue in the November election and laughed off claims by Mitt Romney's campaign that he was not the day's big winner after a decisive victory in the Kansas caucuses.

After new jobs numbers released on Friday revealed more positive signs for the economy, the former Pennsylvania senator warned about the threat of a nuclear Iran and said national security could become the issue of top concern for voters heading into the general election this fall.

"People say, 'Well what’s gonna be the most important, oh jobs, jobs, jobs.' Well maybe not," Santorum told a crowd of 700 Republicans gathered for a Lincoln Day dinner. "We’ve got a country in the Middle East that’s about, potentially about to explode a nuclear weapon, which would change the face of our Earth."

The important role the economy will play in this election has been a central tenet of Romney's campaign. The former Massachusetts governor often cites his experience in the private sector as proof he is best suited to fix the economy. It's an experience he argues no other Republican presidential candidate has. But Santorum's argument Saturday night was that he is the only candidate with the experience to keep America safe.

"We have candidates running around saying they want to run for CEO of America. I’m running to be the commander in chief for America,” Santorum said.

His two stops here came at the end of what was a good day for the presidential hopeful’s up and down candidacy.

Saturday morning, aides said, they raised $85,000 in cash during a fundraiser in Houston, Texas, with the 200 conservatives in attendance pledging another $1.78 million to go toward both the campaign and the pro-Santorum Super PAC "Red, White and Blue Fund." In the afternoon, results came in from the Kansas caucuses that showed him earning a resounding victory.

Also Saturday, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., announced her support for Santorum. It is one of the few endorsements he has earned from members of Congress he served with during his 16 years on Capitol Hill.

But seeking to counter the positive headlines, Romney's campaign again pointed to the math that they claim falls in their favor.

"Today, Mitt Romney won more delegates than any of the other candidates and continued his momentum and path to getting the delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination," Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul wrote in an email to reporters. Romney racked up wins in Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Virgin Islands, and Wyoming, a state whose delegate apportionment has yet to be fully settled.

Greeting voters at a later event in a hangar in the Cape Girardeau airport, Santorum laughed off the Romney campaign's assertion. "It's sounding very desperate for a man who supposedly has it in the bag," he said.

"We need a strong contrasting vision for this country and Gov. Romney doesn't provide that and I think the people of Kansas spoke very, very loudly about their concerns about his viability," Santorum added.

The presidential hopeful expressed his profound gratitude to the "Show Me State," which, along with Minnesota and Colorado, gave him three big victories last month that gave new life to his candidacy.  Though Missouri's primary in February awarded no delegates, it proved to be a big win for a candidate who seemed to have stalled out after winning the Iowa caucuses.

“I should be applauding you and not the other way around," Santorum said. "I can say this without hesitation: If it wasn’t for the people of Missouri I wouldn’t be standing here today ... I greatly appreciate the warm reception, and I have to just say again, I do mean that what happened during the primary here and the caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, gave the country an opportunity to take a second look."

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- Rick Santorum began what could end up being a very good day for his campaign emphasizing the importance of the Colorado caucus during the first of three campaign stops in three different states on Tuesday.

Santorum made stops in Colorado and Minnesota, which host caucuses tonight, and will end the day in Missouri, where voters head to the polls for a primary.  Signs indicate Santorum could do well in all three contests, possibly even win one, prompting Santorum to stress the importance of the three states and taking shots at other candidates claiming to not compete there.

"Colorado is a state that, four years ago, Gov. Romney won with 61 percent of the vote. He won and he campaigned hard here. He didn't pass it off like he's been doing the last couple of days and saying, 'Oh, well these are just non binding caucuses, they don't really matter much,'" said Santorum here this morning. "Well they mattered four years ago when he came out here and he campaigned in these very same states. You have an opportunity to reset this race, you have an opportunity to put the best person forward that can defeat Barack Obama tonight."

Missouri in particular has been dismissed by candidates and pundits as nothing more than a beauty contest. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will not be on the ballot there, and Tuesday's non-binding primary will be followed by a caucus next month. It's the state where Santorum has the best chance of winning and where Mitt Romney's campaign has downplayed expectations.

Though he may not officially win any delegates today, any victory for Santorum would be a much needed boast for a campaign struggling to remain relevant since a victory in the Iowa caucuses. Winning Missouri would allow Santorum to boast of a head-to-head victory against Romney, since Gingrich wasn't on the ballot. Along with breaking Romney's winning streak, it could help lend credibility to Santorum's argument that he is the best alternative GOP candidate to the former Massachusetts governor.

"We need to have a conservative alternative and my feeling is that Speaker Gingrich sort of had his chance in the arena and came up short in Florida and Nevada and now it’s our turn hopefully to get a one-on-one in Missouri," Santorum said on Monday at the Colorado School of Mines.

While the Romney campaign has been taming expectations with email blasts warning that their candidate cannot win every primary and caucus, Santorum is doing the opposite.

"If you're looking at the polls, today could be a very good day for the conservative cause," Santorum said.