Mitt Romney, Barack Obama trade barbs on plans

Heading into the campaign's final weeks, Mitt Romney is escalating his criticism of President Barack Obama's plans for a second term, accusing the Democrat of failing to tell Americans what he would do with four more years.

The Obama campaign is aggressively disputing the notion, claiming it's Republican Romney who hasn't provided specific details to voters.

At campaign events and in a new ad, Romney is setting up the closing weeks as a choice between what he says is a "small" campaign offering little that's new and his own plan to fundamentally change America's tax code and entitlement programs.

The ad criticizes the president's policies on debt, health care, taxes, energy and Medicare, arguing that Obama is simply offering more of the same. The campaign did not say where the spot would air.

The Obama campaign points to the president's calls for immigration reform, ending tax breaks for upper-income earners, fully implementing his health care overhaul and ending the Afghanistan War in his second term.

Both Obama and Romney retreated from the campaign trail Saturday to bone up on foreign policy, the focus of Monday's final debate, in Boca Raton, Fla. They are hurtling toward Election Day in a virtual deadlock, each convinced that victory is within reach if he sticks with his plan.

Obama is banking on his get-out-the-vote ground operation to steer millions of supporters to the polls. Many have already voted, under early balloting scenarios that favor campaigns with the most volunteers to flush out potential supporters.

Republicans feel Romney has finally broken through with his message that the economy can be much better, and that he's the man to improve it.

Interviews with strategists indicate that neither campaign feels it needs to make a significant shift in strategy. Obama may hold a slight edge in battleground states, some Republicans say, but Romney has the time, money and message to erase it. "Republicans are coalescing around a candidate who has bridged the credibility gap, and now the question is, can we make our closing arguments and win on the ground," said veteran GOP strategist Terry Holt.

Florida is a must for Romney. Ohio is the next closest thing. Democrats see Ohio, with its lower-than-average unemployment and embrace of the auto bailout, as their best chance to stop Romney cold.

Rather than pour their heaviest efforts into Florida and risk losing it, the Obama campaign has placed its biggest bet on Ohio. That has forced Romney to make his own stand there.