Axelrod: Romney "oblivious" to everyday life

UPDATED 10:17 a.m. ET

(CBS News) -- A top campaign adviser to President Obama Tuesday called Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney "oblivious" to the concerns of everyday Americans and suggested he is living in a different era.

The former Massachusetts governor is "oblivious to the experiences of everyday people," David Axelrod said on "CBS This Morning."

Romney appears to view the world through the "rear view mirror," Axelrod charged, pointing to his opposition to requiring employers to pay for health insurance that covers contraception and to comments calling Russia the number one foe of the United States.

"I think he must watch Mad Men and think it's the evening news," he said, referring to the popular television program set in the 1960s. "He is just in a time warp."

"You have a guy who wants to go back to the same policies that got us into this disaster. He wants to cut taxes for the very wealthy, cut Wall Street loose to write its own rules and he thinks that this somehow is going to produce broad prosperity for Americans. We've tested that. It's failed," he said.

The line of attack appears to be shaping up to be a major theme from the Obama re-election team.

Vice President Joe Biden told Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation over the weekend that Romney is "a little out of touch."

Asked about the possibility of a 2016 presidential run by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Axelrod said she would likely be "an early frontrunner" if she chose to run.

"She has been a little more reticent than everyone else about this ... but if Hillary Clinton decided to run, then she would be very, very formidable," he said.

Noting that the 2012 campaign is still underway, Axelrod said "everybody can wait a little while to play the speculation game about Hillary" in 2016.