Reaching out to college students, Obama slams Romney on education costs

President Obama speaks at Capital University, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio.

/ AP Photo/Tony Dejak

(CBS News) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Making his 10th visit to Ohio this year, his 26th since taking office, President Obama reached out to college students in this swing state seen as the indispensable key to victory for either him or Mitt Romney.

"Let's prove the cynics wrong, show them your voice counts," the president urged a mostly student crowd estimated at 3,300 assembled for his appearance on the campus of Capital University.

Mr. Obama used his campaign speech to spotlight administration initiatives to help make college more affordable for students while blasting Romney for offering no such proposals.

"Putting a college education within reach of working families doesn't seem to be a priority for my opponent," the president told supporters.

In fact, he ridiculed Romney for suggesting on a prior visit to Ohio that if college students need financial assistance, they should either "shop around" or "borrow money if you have to from your parents."

"That's it. That's his plan," said the president, conveying a deliberate air of incredulity.

The Romney campaign responded in kind.

"Under this president, too many young Americans are suffering from higher college costs, more debt, and a lack of good jobs when they graduate," said Romney campaign spokesperson Amanda Henneberg.

She said the initiatives Mr. Obama cited today "are just more of the same from a president who hasn't fixed the economy or kept his promises to the young people who supported him four years ago."

Henneberg said the Romney-Ryan plan "will deliver 12 million new jobs to help recent graduates - and all Americans - enjoy a more prosperous future."

The Obama campaign says the president has doubled Pell Grant scholarships and provided families with $10,000 tuition tax credits while the Romney-Ryan budget would "slash investments in vital education reforms and financial aid" on which college students depend.

In coming to this college campus, Mr. Obama was trying to energize a key part of his political base to the same extent they helped him win election four years earlier.

With its 18 electoral votes, Ohio is deemed an essential element of victory. Many analysts say neither Mr. Obama nor Romney can win in November without Ohio in his win column.

Mr. Obama won the state in 2008 by a margin of 52 percent to 47 percent. But recent polls show Ohio to be up for grabs with the president and Romney tied or within the margin-of-error of one another.

A CBS News tally shows that with the exception of Washington, D.C. and neighboring Maryland and Virginia, Ohio is the state Mr. Obama has visited more than any other but one: New York. It reflects the importance the Obama campaign places on winning the state.

Before ending his campaign event today, the president urged students to register to vote "at their current address" so they can cast their ballot for him in November.

"Ohio - we've come back too far to turn back now," the president told supporters. "If you're willing to stand with me, we'll finish what we started."

[churchstate]

Whatever happened to the separation of church and state? I have strong emotions about Mitt Romney, the GOP Republican Presidential Candidate being a faithful follower of a church that is determined to and has succeeded in building a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) - The Mormons, Seminary Building right next to almost every high school in the state of Utah. I am sure the LDS church would love to do the same in your state, and they probably will as Mitt Romney, and other LDS faithful members push for state's rights and school/education vouchers. I think we can probably thank Utah Senator Orin Hatch (a pioneer of state's rights), and other LDS faithful lawmakers for launching and persisting in the movement for states rights and for smudging the fine line to exempt the LDS church and the evasive and secretive State of Utah government from federal guidelines.

[Atheist_al_Qaeda]

by ZionistCensorship August 22, 2012 8:02 AM EDT
You aren't paying for the art history degree, and neither is anyone else in your trailer, so you don't have a dog in this fight, Cletus.
...
by ZionistCensorship August 22, 2012 8:03 AM EDT
Those new meds, to grant you rational thought processes, aren't working, sap.
....

This bigot must be working for CBS News because the site managers let him spam, repetitive posts all day long and says vulgar things but he never gets banned no matter how many times you report him as they do others for lesser offenses. They may delete one comment but not his entire comments for the day. He may even be one of the site managers.
What they might do is ban be for exposing their double standard when it comes to who posts what here here like the truth.

Please complain to the site the biased site managers about him and their bias.
Thanks

[makersvstakers]

What is the status of higher education right now in a word-BLOATED. Colleges and universities are churning out graduates with degrees in Art History, Interior Design, and worst of all "fill-in-the-blank studies." The worthless degrees aren't even cheap. The pieces of paper cost so much they ruin the lives of students saddled with six figure debt for the rest of their lives.

This is what President Obama says "is an investment." It the same kind of investment we made in Solyndra. Just pumping money in to higher education is simply a recipe for another debt driven bubble.

President Obama simply has no solutions outside of continuing failed policies.

[RollotheNorman]

"Mr. Obama won the state in 2008 by a margin of 52 percent to 47 percent. But recent polls show Ohio to be up for grabs with the president and Romney tied or within the margin-of-error of one another."

Knoller, you can luxuriate in your RepubliCON fantasies if you want, but the polls you are referring to here are already 3 weeks old, practically a polling eternity, and the conclusion was based on one and only one poll. Try looking at Charlie Cook's, Nate Silver's, or RCP. I do believe the RepubliCON cause is in deep do-do.

[valwayne]

Obama is just disgusting! Now he's wondering around college campuses trying to buy votes from students with borrowed dollars? It may sound nice that Santa Obama is willing to borrow hundreds of billions more dollars to buy their votes now, but they should take a look at Greece. That kind of corrupt behavior didn't work out so well for students or anybody there. Those of us who have been around for a few decades know that the money Obama's borrowing, or promising to borrow to buy their votes now will cause them to pay through the teeth the rest of their lives. Despite Obama's false promises there is no free lunch. Sooner or later you have to pay, and what Obama is doing to our country means students in college will be paying a steep price with lower living standards and massive taxes all of their lives. And where will you get a job while Obama is in the White House destroying the nation's economy!!!

[0bama2O12]

There are 19.7 million college students in the U.S. President Obama's student loan forgiveness program should be a big incentive for his re-election.

[BFR50]

Obama doesn't want these college kids to have their parents pay for their education and have some debt like it has always been, but he does say he wants others to pay for their education and not have any debt?

Why doesn't he approach the colleges and tell them to stop raising the tuitions and making it too expensive for students to attend.
Of course he will not and blame the GOP for not going along with his socialist college ideas.