President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney squared off in Denver Wednesday night in the first of three presidential debates. Trailing Obama in the polls of several battleground states, Romney sought to rejuvenate his campaign with a spirited attack on what he called President Obama’s policies of “trickle-down government.”

Mitt Romney: “I’m concerned that the path that we’re on has just been unsuccessful. The president has a view very similar to the view he had when he ran four years ago, that a bigger government, spending more, taxing more, regulating more — if you will, trickle-down government — would work. That’s not the right answer for America. I will restore the vitality that gets America working again.”

President Obama was more subdued in his comments, failing to make one mention of Romney’s infamous “47 percent” comments and his background at Bain Capital. Addressing Romney’s tax plan, Obama said Romney’s effort to cut taxes for the wealthy would lead to the gutting of essential government programs.

President Obama: “Well, for 18 months, he’s been running on this tax plan. And now, five weeks before the election, he’s saying that his big, bold idea is 'never mind.' And the fact is that if you are lowering the rates the way you describe, Governor, then it is not possible to come up with enough deductions and loopholes that only affect high-income individuals to avoid either raising the deficit or burdening the middle class. It’s math. It’s arithmetic.”