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Romney Pitches Closing Argument As Election Day Approaches

Danny Lee |
November 3, 2012 | 1:27 p.m. PDT

Senior Staff Reporter

Mitt Romney will tour eight swing states during the three days leading up to the election. (Screencap/CNN)
Mitt Romney will tour eight swing states during the three days leading up to the election. (Screencap/CNN)
The final sprint is underway as Mitt Romney seeks to win over remaining undecided voters and fire up his Republican base during the last weekend before America votes on Tuesday.

Although nationally, the race is still too close to call, President Barack Obama appears to have a slight lead over Romney among both early voters and likely voters in most battleground states. The GOP nominee kicked off his eight-state tour in his adopted home state of New Hampshire Saturday morning.

The Granite State only has four electoral votes at stake, but every single one of them could be pivotal should Tuesday's election produce a tight race in the Electoral College. Romney attempted to drive home the message that he is the better candidate for turning around the nation's economy, which many see as his strong suit.

“Talk is cheap,” Romney said. “As you know, I started a business. I actually have turned around another business and helped turn around the Olympics. And, you may have heard, I was governor next door in Massachusetts.”

The latest jobs report released on Friday provided results mixed enough for both Romney and Obama to strategically spin for political gain. Although employers added 171,000 jobs, Romney contended that the unemployment rate bumping up to 7.9 percent is a sign that the economy is at a "virtual standstill."

Delivering his economic message in battleground Ohio could be a tall challenge for Romney. No Republican has ever lost Ohio and went on to win the presidency.

Romney has the task of portraying Obama as being bad for the economy in a state where unemployment is below the national average. The former Massachusetts governor's opposition to the auto bailout has also hurt his standing with some voters in the Buckeye State. Romney is expected to have a presence in Ohio up until Tuesday.

The GOP nominee also positioned himself as the candidate who would end gridlock in Washington. During a Friday speech in West Allis, Wis., Romney attempted to strike up a bipartisan tone.

"The president just cannot work with Congress to get the work done," Romney said. "I will not represent one party. I will represent one nation."

Like Ohio, Wisconsin's jobless rate has held steady below the national average. While the Badger State could provide Romney a backdoor path to 270 electoral votes, no GOP candidate has won here since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

Real Clear Politics has Romney winning just Florida, North Carolina and Virginia among states expected to be tightly-contested on Tuesday. A defeat in any of those GOP-leaning swing states would severely cut off Romney's path to the White House.

Romney's tour of battleground states, which is expected to wrap up Monday night, also includes Iowa and Colorado on his Saturday schedule. But the former businessman also decided to set his sights on Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania for Sunday, as the Keystone State's 20 electoral votes could provide him some insurance should he fall in neighboring Ohio. Running mate Paul Ryan is slated to hold a Sunday rally in Minnesota, another blue-leaning state the Romney camp feels it could snatch from Obama.

While the president has support from the likes of Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen, the Romney camp enlisted musical acts of its own for planned Monday events. The Marshall Tucker Band will perform at a Romney rally in Columbus, Ohio during the day, while Kid Rock will have a hand in Romney's final campaign event in Manchester, N.H.

Romney will spend Election Day in Boston, where he is expected to address supporters in the evening.

Read more Neon Tommy stories on the 2012 election.

Reach Senior Staff Reporter Danny Lee here; follow him on Twitter here.



 

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