Presidential candidates making pushes in swing states
President Obama is jetting across the nation on an intense campaign schedule this week. His rival, Mitt Romney, is also racking up frequent flier miles in a final push for voters in the all important swing states. Josh Robin mapped their journeys this week and filed this report.
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UNITED STATES -- Wednesday's itinerary starts in Washington, D.C. before hitting Davenport, Iowa, Denver, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and a red eye to Tampa.
Obama said, "Now, this is the first stop on our 48 hour fly around, campaign marathon extravaganza. We are going to pull an all nighter."
Air Romney is also ramping up his battleground state tour. He's hitting Colorado, Nevada, Iowa and Ohio.
"The president's been unable to find an agenda and to communicate an agenda and to defend an agenda and that's one reason why I think we all know that he's out of ideas and out of excuses and in November you're going to put him out of office," Romney said.
We've identified nine states in play: Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. Republicans are also pushing into Maine and possibly Pennsylvania, where Obama is now favored. His Nevada stop was to a county that went to Obama in 2008.
Romney said, "I need you to vote, I need you to get your neighbors to vote, I need you to find one person who voted for Barack Obama last time and get them to vote for us this time."
But Democrats say early voting gives them the advantage. They're also pouncing on Romney's support for an Indiana Republican running for the U.S. Senate. Richard Mourdock was asked Tuesday why he doesn't support abortion rights even in cases of race and incest.
Romney only this week cut an ad for Mourdock, which Democrats noted in their own new spot. Romney says he disagrees with Mourdock's view on rape, but still supports him. But it prompted memories of another Republican's remarks.
"If it's legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down," said Todd Akin.
And Romney's own foot-in-the-mouth comments.
Democrats are hoping they're all new ways to sow distrust among women who are considering voting for Romney.