President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney were both in the pivotal swing state of Ohio this week, blasting one another's plans to jump-start the sluggish U.S. economy. After making public speeches, the two headed off to fund-raising events, Romney in Chicago and Obama in New York, marking the start of a final push toward Election Day in November.
"The president has been long on words and short on actions that have created jobs," Romney said, repeating his well-worn stump speech painting the president as a pro-regulation job-killer.
Meanwhile, Obama repeated his call for all those who "believe this economy grows best when everybody gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules" to vote for him.
Although both of the highly-anticipated Ohio speeches provided scant additional policy substance, the campaign intensity marking the event signals the beginning of the final push towards election day. After a swing through Chicago for a fund-raising event that made the candidate $3.3 million, Romney's campaign announced the former Massachusetts governor's first cross-country bus trip.
The campaign said the trip will hit parts of small-town America neglected by Obama. Beginning in New Hampshire on Friday, Romney will hit 14 towns in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan on his "Every Town Counts" tour.
The president, meanwhile, spoke to his base Thursday, attending a fund-raising event at the home of Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker in Manhattan.
"We've got a huge amount of work to do," the president said during the fundraiser, which also featured Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour as host. "And the speech that I gave today focused on the fact that we've still got a choice."
"We're going to have to work hard in this election. We're going to have to work harder than we did in 2008," the president added. Still no word on how much the president raised at the $40,000-a-head dinner which featured the liked of Michael Kors, Kenneth Cole and Millard Drexler, Meryl Streep and Aretha Franklin.
On Friday, Romney will first stop at Scamman Farm in Stratham, New Hampshire. He will then hold an ice cream social at the Milford Oval in Milford.
The president will spend the majority of Friday in Washington, DC, announcing a homeland security policy in the afternoon before hosting a reception to observe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month at the White House.
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