Obama, Romney duel in battleground Ohio

CLEVELAND -- From opposing ends of battleground Ohio, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney offered vastly different visions yesterday of how to speed up America's economic recovery. They accused each other of pursuing failed ideas, yet on a day of high expectation both offered familiar platforms and lines.

In Cincinnati, Romney said, "Don't forget, he's been president for three and a half years. And talk is cheap. Actions speak very loud." Speaking just ahead of Obama's economic address, Romney said, "If you want to see the results of his economic policy, look around Ohio, look around the country."

Obama, trying in Cleveland to define the choice for voters, presented the election as a time when the country could break a stalemate of ideas. "If you want to give the policies of the last decade another try," he said, "then you should vote for Mr. Romney."

The backdrop was vital Ohio, one of the deeply contested states that could swing the election. What unfolded was a back-to-back duel on television.

The Republican spoke for under 20 minutes, with coat off and sleeves rolled up, to about 100 supporters at a manufacturing plant. In a more expansive, situation-setting address, the president went more than 50 minutes, to an eager crowd of 1,500 people at a community college.

The former Massachusetts governor offered no new proposals in what was his standard speech, castigating the president for stimulus spending, the health care law and failure to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline. He also criticized the president's policies toward China, saying he would label it as a currency manipulator on his first day in office if elected president.

Obama tried to use his speech to take the campaign where he wants it -- a deep, long look at how his economic vision differs from Romney's. He spoke in budgetary detail about his ideas for spurring job growth and trimming the national debt, warning people not to fall for the Romney line that Obama is in over his head.

"Your vote will finally determine the path that we take as a nation. Not just tomorrow but for years to come," the president said. "When you strip everything else away, that's really what this election is about. That's what is at stake right now. Everything else is just noise."