President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney have made late
pitches in two political battlegrounds likely to decide the winner in
next week's closely fought election for the White House.
In dueling campaign appearances on Friday in the swing states of Ohio
and Wisconsin, the two contenders battled over the economy on a day
when the government reported the jobless rate had ticked up to 7.9 per cent in October but that employers stepped up their hiring.
In Wisconsin, where polls show Romney trailing Obama, the Republican
laid out the case for his election and said the jobs report was more
evidence of the president's failing leadership.
"The question of this election comes down to this: do you want more
of the same or do you want real change?" Romney said in a suburb of
Milwaukee.
Romney stepped up his attack at two stops in Ohio, including a huge
rally in West Chester, a community near Cincinnati, where US musician
Kid Rock warmed up the crowd with the Romney signature song,"Born Free",
and a host of Republican leaders spoke.
"Your state is the one I'm counting on," Romney told thousands of
cheering supporters on a chilly night. "This is the one we have to win."
Jeep statement
With four days left until Tuesday's election, Obama and Romney are
essentially tied in national polls, but the president holds a slight
edge in the battleground states that are crucial to gaining the 270
electoral votes needed to win.
On a stop in Ohio, the most heavily contested swing state and a vital
cog in the electoral math for both candidates, Obama said the jobs
report was evidence "we have made real progress".
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industry-related, hammered Romney for a recent statement that Chrysler planned to move Jeep production to China.
Chrysler has refuted that, noting it was adding workers to build more Jeeps in Ohio, and the two campaigns have aired advertisements over the issue. Obama said Romney, who opposed a government auto bailout, was trying to scare workers in a desperate bid to make up ground in Ohio.
"I know we're close to an election, but this isn't a game. These are people's jobs, these are people's lives," Obama said.
"You don't scare hard-working Americans just to scare up some votes."
Obama's advisers said the Jeep controversy, which has featured heavily in the state's media, had helped the president solidify his lead in Ohio.
"We all felt prior to this week we were in very solid shape in the state of Ohio, and our expectation is that our position's been strengthened by this," White House senior adviser David Plouffe told reporters.
Slight leads
While campaigning in the Midwestern heartland, Obama's team was casting an eye on the Northeast where New York-area motorists were scrambling for gasoline on a third day of panic buying after the storm Sandy devastated the area.
Obama won plaudits for turning his attention to storm relief earlier this week, but growing frustration among victims could hurt the incumbent Democrat if the federal response is deemed unsatisfactory.
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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 3 percentage points in Virginia and 2 points in Ohio and Florida. They were tied in Colorado.
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