Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland gives DNC dose of Midwest humor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is channeling Midwestern populism and heaping on some humor as he lays out the Democrats' "case against Romney."

"If Mitt was Santa Claus, he'd fire the reindeer and outsource the elves," Strickland said in one of a series of sharp quips aimed at the Republican nominee for president.

Strickland argues that Americans shouldn't trust the former Massachusetts governor -- a multimillionaire private equity firm founder -- because Romney has held some of his investments in overseas accounts and refuses to release all of his tax returns.

"Mitt Romney has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. It summers on the beaches of the Cayman Islands and winters on the slopes of the Swiss Alps," Strickland said.

He said any person who aspires to be president "should keep both his treasure and his heart in the United States of America."

Polls indicate that many voters feel Romney does not understand their day-to-day financial problems.