Boehner's remarks also included a blunt personal attack on the president. Americans, he said, could not afford "another 19 months of government-as-community organizer," a reference to one of Mr. Obama's pre-White House political career roles.

Hitting back, Obama communications director Dan Pfeiffer accused the House minority leader of advocating "the same old failed economic policies that steered our economy into the ditch."

In Martha's Vineyard, where the president is vacationing, White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton had this response.

"Boehner would fire the very people who helped to make the tough decisions, who helped to do the hard work, to get our economy moving in the right direction again," he said.

Aside from familiar attacks on the president's economic policies, Boehner's speech included a dose of the kind of anti-Washington rhetoric that has substantial appeal with voters.

Referring to what he called a "tired, bloated, and broken Washington," Boehner outlined what he would do if Republicans win control of the House and he were to become speaker.

"I would run the House differently. And I don't just mean differently than the way Democrats are running it today," he said. "I mean differently than both Democrats or Republicans in the past. That means challenging the old ways in Washington, getting to the bottom of what drives people crazy, and then trying to fix it once and for all."