For Obama and Romney, renewed sense of urgency

President Obama and Mitt Romney effectively resumed the presidential campaign on Thursday after three days of little campaigning as the Eastern seaboard grappled with superstorm Sandy. And both candidates carried with them a renewed sense of urgency tied to the fact that their carefully calibrated plans for the final stretch of the campaign had to be thrown out when Mother Nature imposed her will.

Romney, who had offered a positive message on Wednesday as Mr. Obama toured storm damage in New Jersey, went on the attack in Virginia. He hammered the president for seeking to empower a Secretary of Business, a criticism that echoed a new Romney ad that suggests the president's "solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat."

Mr. Obama, meanwhile, attacked Romney's attempt to claim the mantle of change. "Giving more power to the biggest banks isn't change," Mr. Obama said. "Leaving millions without health insurance isn't change...Turning Medicare into a voucher is change, but we don't want that change."

The polls out Thursday showed what we already knew: It's a tight race nationally, and while Mr. Obama appears to hold slim leads in key battleground states like Wisconsin and Iowa, it's close everywhere. In the crucial battleground of Ohio, where polls have shown Mr. Obama with a small lead, one new survey showed the two candidates effectively tied. In Virginia, which most polls have found to be a tossup, a new survey had Romney up by five percentage points. Surveys in New Hampshire and Colorado found the race to be effectively tied.

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CBS News now estimates that there are 255 electoral votes that lean toward Mr. Obama or are solidly in his column, compared to 206 for Romney; 270 electoral votes are necessary for the presidency. (This tally has Ohio, which some consider a tossup, in Mr. Obama's column.) Romney thus has the harder path to victory, but because the race is so close in the battleground states, he's very much alive.

One clue as to where the campaigns believe the race stands can be found in their schedules: If a candidate uses his precious time to travel to a state, it suggests his campaign is serious about contesting it. And that's why it was interesting to learn that Romney plans to campaign in Pennsylvania on Sunday, a state that has long been assumed to be in Mr. Obama's column. (The Romney campaign confirmed the trip to CBS News, though it has not been announced publicly.) Most polls there have shown a big Obama lead, but a Franklin and Marshall College poll released Wednesday found Romney within four percentage points among likely voters. The Romney camp will spin his decision to campaign in the state could be taken as a sign of confidence, since it suggests the candidate is on offense and expanding the electoral map. The Obama campaign will cast it as a sign of weakness: Since Romney hasn't locked down the clear battlegrounds states, they argue, his decision to spend time in a relative long shot state like Pennsylvania reeks of desperation.

The president's schedule: After spending time in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado on Thursday, he heads to Ohio Friday. On Saturday he's in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Virginia. Sunday: New Hampshire, Florida, Colorado and Ohio. Monday: Wisconsin, Iowa and - you guessed it - Ohio.

The message is clear: The president badly wants the Buckeye State, where he will be each of the next four days. He's also betting on a victory in Wisconsin. If he wins those two states and the other states he is expected to win, he'll have 265 electoral votes. He could then win reelection with Iowa, Wisconsin or Colorado - all states he will visit in the next four days.

After spending Thursday in Ohio, Romney was set to spend Friday in Wisconsin and Ohio - another sign of the importance of those states. Saturday he'll be in New Hampshire, Colorado, and Iowa. His remaining plans have yet to be fully announced, but we know he'll be in Pennsylvania on Sunday and in New Hampshire on Monday.

Two things to watch in the coming days will be whether polls show Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes to be truly within Romney's reach, and whether Romney does something big to try to regain the spotlight in the wake of storm coverage that relegated him to the back pages. At least one prominent conservative believes he needs to do so.

"Mixed opinions about electoral effect of Sandy. I think big help to Obama," News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch wrote in a Twitter message Thursday. "Now Romney must get attention with big visionary speech." https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/statuses/264109798117748736

[mikesfilms]

LIE, I'll balance the Budget. Bush Era will be a picnic compared with Romneynomics: lower the Rich Tax to Bush levels: Loss, of $500Bill/yr. Hike Defense to war levels, $2Trill (just like Bush). Explode the Debt and sink us the way of Greece. Mega-borrow from China. BUSH REBORN.

LIE: I'm going to fix the nation. He killed bin Laden and several dozen al Qaeda leaders and built the pyramids of Egypt. He saved the auto industry from collapse and built the Great Wall of China. Check if he had a hand in winning the Revolutionary War. Gas prices will come down if he and pals stop the bomb-Iran blabber. Pinocchio will create 500,000 jobs/month. What with? Bushanomics that's cost 10 million jobs? Now he's going to fix the economy with Paul Ryan's budget and deep cuts to the Rich Tax. His math sucks. Rather, he's going to accelerate the Debt clock, lose millions of jobs, and sink us the way of Greece. Romney a liar? "Yes," Newt Gingrich. VOTE FOR ME SUCKERS.

[NowDECIDEDVoter1]

Many people don't know that Mitt Romney has had quite a bit of experience helping people with hard times (such as unemployment, divorces, broken families, house fires, flooding, health problems) when he was a church leader for the Mormon Church (like a pastor, priest, or minister). I don't know all the specific people he has helped, but church leaders in the Mormon Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) go through training to help them deal with disasters and emergencies. Here is an article talking about the steps leaders took to prepare people for Hurricane Sandy. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865565603/As-Mormons-prepare-for-Hurricane-Sandy-they-live-their-faith.html?pg=all
I am a Mormon (see http://mormon.org/me/9NR4/Rosie if you want to know who I am.) I actually have water, food, heat, flashlights, and other things to help me prepare for unemployment and/or a disaster, because it's wise and I have been counseled by Mormon Church leaders to do so. I also donate money once a month to help with the perpetual education fund (The money donated creates loans for poor people in developing countries to get educations and they repay the debt back after finishing school so other people can get an education.), the Humanitarian Fund (When disasters occur, LDS Charities sends food, clothing, medical supplies, and other emergency relief assistance to bless the lives of those with urgent needs. http://www.ldsphilanthropies.org/humanitarian-services/funds/humanitarian-general-fund.html ), and the missionary fund. Here is an article about the missionaries helping after the hurricane. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865565759/500-LDS-missionaries-helping-neighbors-in-Sandys-wake.html
These charities help spread kindness, hope, teaching and self-reliance throughout the world. Mitt Romney has worked to help others throughout his life economically, politically, & spiritually. He has my vote to solve the debt crisis, create jobs, help rebuild New York and New Jersey,
and make the world a more peaceful place.

[Yeshuratnam]

What has Obama done all these four years to get reelected? Like the floods of monster storm Sandy, American cities are today flooded with illegal immigrants, after Obama gave them green signal, at a time when thousands of American boys and girls are without jobs. America is also submerged in $ 16 trillion debt borrowed from other countries, especially China. Economic recession, mass unemployment, total failure in foreign policy (the turmoil we see in the Middle East today) .The murder of the American ambassador is a national humiliation like 9/11. . President Magarief of Libya says deadly attack on US Consulate was 'pre-planned act of terrorism,' not reaction over film. During Obama presidency, America lost its status as a superior power. Obama could not stop the bloodbath in Syria which has been going on for more than a year. There is another potential danger looming large in the horizon. Obama has authorized joint military exercise with Egypt. After Morsi became president, several alarming changes have taken place. . In a fiery speech Morsi said before an enthusiastic crowd that the motto of the Muslim Brotherhood is "The Koran is our constitution. The Prophet Muhammad is our leader. Jihad is our path. And death for the sake of Allah is our most lofty aspiration." But Obama has authorized joint military exercise with Muslim Brotherhood forces. In the new geopolitical scenario. Egypt having intimate ties with Beijing and Moscow and with the emergence of a new axis in the Middle East - Tehran-Cairo-Baghdad-Damascus - it is suicidal for America to train Muslim Brotherhood forces in defensive and offensive operations. And yet Obama has done this unpatriotic and treacherous act. Another term for Obama will embolden him strengthen this alliance with Islamist Egypt which will be a great danger for America and Israel. As In the first two years of their joint reign Obama and Bernanke have waged a hidden inflation war on the middle class that has fleeced more wealth from folks on Main Street than the previous 20 years. These two men, along with their cohorts in D.C. and at the Fed, have set America on a road to financial perdition and economic ruin.

[peacecrane]

The complexity of the issues involving the world and society today are extremely complex and I find it disheartning that we are all at such odds with one another. What makes us think one human being, one man can solve the problems of the whole world? It took 15 to 20 yrs. for people to recover from the Great Depression of 29'. The bare beginnings of the end of it started with our entering into WW2, but really it didn't actually begin to end until after the war and in some cases not until 1950!!! (It did vary from state to state.) And now we're expecting it to end in 4 yrs.? REALLY???!!! What we are struggling with are the growing pains of an emerging society and technolgy. Other countries are struggling as we are esp., Europe and Japan. There are jobs out there. Just not the people yet with the knowledge necessary to fill those jobs. Engineering manufacturing jobs are begging for people. We need to band together and open our eyes to the possibilities and visions for the future. One very important new emerging science is that of biomimcry, or engineering and design modeled on nature. If you don't know what "biomimcry" is look it up, because it very literally could change our world. We need each other, and no one person has all the answers. Visionaries from all walks of life are our only way to a brighter future. Peace

[dustin93sc]

On Tuesday, our Electorate has an opportunity to remove Barack's economic incompetence and blind dedication to the Abu Dhabi cartel. Obama obsesses on medical assistance cost and increasing federal budget deficit red ink. War mongers like Barack Obama must go. He demands fighting in the Middle East to drive-up gasoline price. ARAMCO was a key player in the terrorist venue at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The Bush-Obama Administrations are finished.

[signseeker1717]

NUT CASE - You seem to have indulged yourself in WAY too many radical sites. You must be very young and missed the 60s. You are so far right you have become left, and vice versa. Please get help.

[hillzhaveays]

RepubliCon_Liar_RobMe says:
====================================
4 REASONS TO RE-ELECT PRESIDENT OBAMA:
(with sources to back them up)
====================================

=======================================
U.S. MANUFACTURING JOBS
(Last Republi-'con' in the White House vs. Obama):
=======================================
"MADE IN AMERICA" U.S. manufacturing jobs (exports).

...last Republi-'con' President we had in the White House, had net losses of "MADE IN AMERICA" U.S. manufacturing jobs EVERY SINGLE YEAR, totaling to 4.6 million U.S. manufacturing jobs going overseas in 8 years.

...Under President Obama, for the first time since Bill Clinton was President, the U.S.A. has had annual NET GROWTH of U.S. manufacturing jobs equal to the following:
2010 = +109,000
2011 = +233,000
2012 (Jan-to-Sep) = +134,000 (so far in 2012)
__________________________________________________
You can make this assertion...if you're in 3rd grade or just a nitwit that is. RLS, you are such a gullible nitwit though, it really is sad to watch you broadcast your ignorance to the world so gleefully.

The evidence shows that manufacturing has been "reshoring" for a number of years for the following reasons (none of which have to do with Obama, Romney, Republicans or Democrats):

Long delivery times and rising shipping costs for overseas production;
Quality control issues
production personnel
A lack of safeguards on intellectual property outside the United States

None of this is controlled by Democrats or Republicans. An American President does not dictate these issues.

However, you've uncovered the main reason why Obama is still even in the hunt - rampant gullibility in a uneducated electorate - you being the poster child. Don't give up your day job.

[Necroscope84]

So now Romney's for Big Government? I thought he was against it? Obama wants to combine 9 Offices that all do the same thing into one but Romney thinks it's stupid? He needs to make up his mind. Much like all the other Republicans they're totally for something unless Obama is for it. Romney creates Romneycare but since Obama likes it, it's bad. Obama tries to pass Republican plans but now they're no longer good enough because Obama likes it. It's purely UnAmerican at this point. We should not award obstructionism. We need to vote these nutjobs out. Obama 2012