WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) - Down to a fierce finish,
President Barack Obama accused Mitt Romney of scaring voters with lies
on Friday, while the Republican challenger warned grimly of political
paralysis and another recession if Obama reclaims the White House.
Heading into the final weekend, the race's last big report on the
economy showed hiring picking up but millions still out of work.
"Four more days!" Romney
supporters bellowed at a rally in Wisconsin. "Four more years!" Obama
backers shouted as the president campaigned in Ohio.
With Ohio at the center of it
all, the candidates sharpened their closing lines, both clutching to the
mainstream middle while lashing out at one another. Virtually all of
the nine homestretch battleground states were getting personal attention
from the contenders or top members of their teams, and Romney was
pressing hard to add Pennsylvania to the last-minute mix.
Romney drew the largest crowd of
his years-long quest for the presidency at an Ohio rally attended by
18,000 people on a cold Friday night.
"We're almost home," a confident
Romney, surrounded by family and more than a dozen Republican
officials, told a sea of supporters. "One final push will get us there."
Urgency could be felt all across
the campaign, from the big and boisterous crowds to the running count
that roughly 24 million people already have voted. Outside the White
House, workers were setting the foundation for the inaugural viewing
stand for Jan. 20. Lawyers from both camps girded for a fight should the
election end up too close to call.
Obama, for the first time,
personally assailed Romney over ads suggesting that automakers General
Motors and Chrysler are adding jobs in China at the expense of
auto-industry dependent Ohio. Both companies have called the ads untrue.
The matter is sensitive in Ohio, perhaps the linchpin state of the
election.
"I know we're close to an
election, but this isn't a game," Obama said from Hilliard, Ohio, a
heavily Republican suburb of the capital city of Columbus. "These are
people's jobs. These are people's lives. ... You don't scare hardworking
Americans just to scare up some votes."
For once, the intensely
scrutinized monthly jobs report seemed overshadowed by the pace of the
presidential race. It was unlikely to affect the outcome.
Employers added a
better-than-expected 171,000 jobs in October, underscoring that the
economy is improving. But the rate is still short of what will be needed
to seriously shrink unemployment. The jobless rate ticked up to 7.9
percent from 7.8 percent - mainly because more people jumped back into
the search for work.
No issue matters more to voters than the economy, the centerpiece of a Romney message called the closing case of his campaign.
He said an Obama presidency
would mean more broken relations with Congress, showdowns over
government shutdowns, a chilling effect on the economy and perhaps
"another recession."
"He has never led, never worked
across the aisle, never truly understood how jobs are created in the
economy," said Romney, a former private equity firm executive, in a
campaign stop in Wisconsin.
Later in Ohio, he declared: "I will not represent one party. I will represent one nation."
Democrats sought to kick the legs out of Romney's late-campaign theme of bipartisanship.
"Mitt Romney's fantasy that
Senate Democrats will work with him to pass his 'severely conservative'
agenda is laughable," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Obama claimed he loved working with Republicans - when they agreed with him. His tone was scrappy.
"I don't get tired," he said in
the longest days of the campaign. When Romney's name drew boos, Obama
blurted out: "Vote! Voting is the best revenge."
While the politics intensified, real-life misery played out in the Northeast.
The death toll and anger kept
climbing in the aftermath of the massive storm Sandy. Millions were
without power, and many drivers could find no gasoline.
Obama noted at the top of his
campaign speeches that he was still commanding the federal storm
response. He also managed to tie it to the theme of his political bid.
"We rise or fall as one nation and as one people," he said, before
launching directly to the economic recovery under his watch.
Polling shows the race remains a
legitimate toss-up heading into the final days. But Romney still has
the tougher path to victory because he must win more of the nine
most-contested states to reach 270 electoral votes: Ohio, Florida,
Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New
Hampshire.
The dash for cash continued to
the end. A fundraising email under Romney's name asked for money to
expand operations into other states and "redefine the landscape of this
election." An Obama fundraising pitch said final decisions were being
made Saturday on where to direct the last campaign money. "It's not too
late," it said.
Romney was making a late,
concerted push into Pennsylvania, drawing jeers from Obama aides who
called it desperation. Obama won the state comfortably in 2008. Romney
appeared intent on another path to the presidency should he lose Ohio.
His foray into Pennsylvania is
not folly. Unlike states that emphasize early voting, Pennsylvania will
see most votes cast on Election Day. The state has not been saturated
with political advertising, giving Romney and his supporting groups -
still flush with cash - an opportunity to sway last-minute voters with a
barrage of commercials. Obama is countering by buying commercial time
in the state as well and is sending former President Bill Clinton to
campaign Monday in Pittsburgh, Scranton and the Philadelphia area.
The candidates' wives and running mates fanned out to the South, Midwest and West to cover more ground.
"Here's what it comes down to:
We can't afford to wait four more years for real change to get us on the
right track," said the Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan,
rallying for votes in Montrose, Colo. "We only need to wait four more
days."
Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden drew roaring support in Beloit, Wis., in a middle school near Ryan's hometown.
Obama reached beyond the big
cities of Ohio before heading back to the White House. Romney was headed
into the weekend with a kickoff event for the finish, joining up with
his running mate and their wives.
___
AP White House Correspondent Ben
Feller reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Ken Thomas,
Julie Pace and Julie Carr Smyth in Hilliard, Ohio, Steve Peoples in
Pataskala, Ohio, Daniel Sewell in Cincinnati, Ann Sanner in Springfield,
Ohio, Matthew Daly in Beloit, Wis., Philip Elliott in Montrose, Colo.,
and Jim Kuhnhenn and Mark S. Smith in Washington contributed to this
report.
__
Follow Ben Feller on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BenFellerDC
Follow Kasie Hunt on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/kasie
Copyright
2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
