Both Presidential candidates have been campaigning in Ohio, a critical state in the upcoming election. Ohio has 18 electoral college votes and is especially important to Romney as no Republican has ever won the White House without winning the majority of votes here. Early voting commences on October 2 in the state ahead of the 6 November election. As things stand, Obama is thought to have a five-point lead in the state, according to an average of surveys conducted by Real Clear Politics.
Obama is said to be popular here because of the state’s improving economy – unemployment is at 7,2% which is below the national average of 8.3%. Romney has paid particular attention to Ohio throughout his campaign, making seven more trips to Ohio during the GOP primaries at the start of the year. President Obama has addressed two universities in the state, while Romney visited three cities, travelling by bus.
This is the last week of campaigning before the presidential debates. Polls have placed Obama in the lead overall, with a CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac opinion poll on Wednesday giving Obama a 10 point lead in Ohio and nine in Florida, while a Washington Post poll on Tuesday gave him an eight point lead in Ohio and four point lead in Florida. Obama has visited Ohio 13 times in comparison to Romney’s 10.
The campaigns continue to focus on China, with Obama expecting to espouse his filing of trade cases against Beijing as well as criticizing Romney for investing in Chinese firms. Romney, meanwhile, has said that he would issue an executive order to label China as a currency manipulator once in office. On Wednesday, the Romney also issued new campaign ads. In one video he says to a camera, “President Obama and I both care about poor and middle-class families. The difference is my policies will make things better for them.” This is thought to both be a defensive measure after his leaked video slip earlier in the month, as well as providing an attack on his opposing candidate for the slowness of the USA’s recovery from the economic crises of the last few years.
