Obama and Romney spar in final days before election

The US presidential candidates have been addressing large crowds ahead of Tuesday’s election.

 

The two rivals started Saturday with appearances in Ohio and New Hampshire, respectively.

 

Speaking at a gymnasium in Mentor, Ohio, which holds 18 electoral votes, Obama commended the nation’s reaction to Sandy, the “super storm” that swept across the country’s east coast earlier this week.

 

“I’ve been in constant contact with governors and mayors in the affected areas, who are doing an excellent job in extraordinarily difficult circumstances,” the president, who is visiting the state for a second-straight day, said.

 

Romney told a New Hampshire rally he would lead voters to a “better place”.

 

Barack Obama was campaigning in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Virginia on Saturday, while Mitt Romney targeted New Hampshire, Iowa and Colorado.

 

Both candidates were visiting the Iowa town of Dubuque within hours of each other.

 

Obama, addressing crowds of supporters in Mentor, Ohio, said the election was a choice between “two different visions for America: the top down vision that crashed the economy, or a future built on a strong and growing middle class”.

 

Republican Romney, opening his three-state campaign day in New Hampshire, told supporters to “vote for love of country”.

 

“It is time we lead America to a better place.”

 

With polls showing Barack Obama and Mitt Romney virtually neck-and-neck, the two men are focusing their efforts on voters in key swing states.

 

Speaking in Ohio on Friday, following a jobs report which showed 171,000 jobs created in October, but the unemployment rate still rising to 7.9 per cent from 7.8, Obama said the figures were evidence that “we have made real progress”.

 

Opinion polls suggest the rivals are almost tied, although Obama is slightly ahead in most swing states.

 

Obama plans to visit Ohio each of the next three days, and will close the campaign on Monday with a swing through his Midwest safety net of Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa.

 

Romney needs a breakthrough in one of those states, or an upset in another state where Obama is even more heavily favoured, to have a shot at the White House.

 

The Republican challenger is within striking distance of Obama in four other states with a combined 55 electoral votes – Florida, Virginia, Colorado and New Hampshire.

 

A series of Reuters/Ipsos online state polls found Obama led Romney among likely voters by a narrow margin of three percentage points in Virginia and two points in Ohio and Florida. They were tied in Colorado.

 

Early voting has been a key focus of this presidential election – some 25 million voters have already cast ballots in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

 

Some states have released the affiliation of early voters, giving Obama an edge in Florida, Iowa, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio, while Romney is favoured in Colorado.

 

However, the figures suggest Obama does not have the lead he had over John McCain four years ago.

 

Nevertheless, the Obama team has released data showing that two-thirds of those who have voted early are women, young people, blacks and Hispanics – demographics the Democrats say favour them.

 

 

Source:Thetimesofearth