The battle for swing state votes takes candidates to Kent State University, Bowling Green State University and Dayton
Ian Benson
Viewpoints Editor
President Obama and Gov. Romney both visited Ohio this week, arriving days after the polls showed an eight percent edge to Obama.
Obama appeared at both Kent State University and Bowling Green State University, while both Romney and Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan toured the state before holding a joint rally outside of Dayton.
Ryan and Romney were also joined in Dayton by Sen. Rand Paul, a noted Tea Party icon. Paul’s presence indicated an attempt to energize the Republican base in Ohio instead of appealing to the dwindling number of undecided voters.
A recent poll in Ohio showed that 85 percent of those who plan to vote for Obama and 86 percent of those who plan to vote for Romney are definitely voting for their chosen candidate, meaning that both campaigns are now more concerned with rallying the base than swaying the small number of undecided voters.
Ryan held a town hall meeting earlier in the week in Lima where he criticized the president regarding the current situation in the Middle East, drawing a parallel between the attack at the Libyan U.S. Embassy earlier this month to the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979. Ryan later held another town hall meeting in Cincinnati before joining Romney on the campaign trail for the first time since the Republican National Convention in Tampa.
Obama’s event on Wednesday in Kent proved popular, with around 5,000 tickets claimed by students, faculty and local residents. Obama’s agreed to appear on campus after Kent Student Democrats sent him an invitation to speak in the fall, which the Obama campaign accepted last week.
In his speeches at both Kent and Bowling Green, Obama emphasized the difference between his economic plan and Romney’s, while sticking to other stump speech staples, including a pledge for unity. Obama also emphasized Ohio’s early voting window, which starts Oct. 2, 35 days before the general election.