Romney pivots back to the economy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was renewing his focus on the nation’s economy Friday amid pressure to break his silence on a Republican Party Senate candidate’s statement that any pregnancy resulting from rape is “something God intended.”

Romney, with Election Day looming less than two weeks away, also tried to move past new questions about his role in a key supporter’s divorce. Court documents released Thursday reveal that Romney created a special class of company stock for Staples founder Tom Stemberg’s then-wife as a “favor.”

Romney has so far ignored the criticism and instead accused President Barack Obama of playing partisan politics in an “incredibly shrinking campaign.”

Opinion polls show Obama and Romney tied nationally. A new Associated Press-GfK poll of likely voters had Romney up 47 percent to 45 percent, a result within the poll’s margin of sampling error.

The race’s recurrent theme, the economy, was to play prominently in the presidential campaign events yet again Friday.

As Obama takes a break from the campaign trail, Romney was to deliver what his campaign billed as a significant economic address in swing state of Iowa. While he was not expected to break new ground, his campaign said Romney would use the speech to help crystalize the differences between each candidate’s economic approach on the same day the government issues its final report on Gross Domestic Product growth before the Nov. 6 election.

The report — set for release at 8:30 a.m. — was expected to show that growth picked up only slightly in the third quarter. Tepid growth has given Romney an opening to challenge Obama’s assessment that the economy is moving in the right direction.

Obama arrived back in Washington late Thursday night following a 40-hour battleground state blitz that took him to eight states. He was taking a brief break from the campaign trail Friday and planned to spend much of the day at the White House.

The US presidential race is not decided by popular vote but rather on a state-by-state basis, so the election will hinge on nine or so of these states: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado.

Obama had a series of interviews scheduled Friday, including several with local television stations in swing states. The president was also using a trio of national interviews to reach key constituencies, including an MTV interview aimed at rallying the youth vote and a sit-down with American Urban Radio Networks, which has a largely black audience.

The president was also scheduled to talk with Michael Smerconish, the conservative-leaning radio host who backed Obama in the 2008 election.

Obama on Thursday intensified pressure on Romney to break ties with Richard Mourdock over the Indiana Senate candidate’s comment that if a woman becomes pregnant from rape it is “something God intended.” Obama aides used a web video to highlight Romney’s endorsement of Mourdock and to accuse him of kowtowing to his party’s extreme elements.

Mourdock’s remark again brought the divisive issue of abortion to the forefront of the US presidential campaign, distracting from the economic issues Romney has been trying to focus on in the last days before the Nov. 6 election.

For the Obama camp, it offered another chance to highlight its differences with the Republican ticket on abortion. The president had long enjoyed an edge among women votes, but a recent AP-GfK poll found Romney erasing the president’s 16-point advantage among female likely voters.

Obama advisers insist they’ve lost no ground with women. But their eagerness to highlight Romney’s connections to Mourdock indicated some degree of nervousness within the campaign.

With the candidates running in a virtual dead heat, a significant lead among women voters could easily tip the balance.

Romney, who appears in a television advertisement declaring his support for Mourdock, brushed aside questions on the emotional controversy from reporters throughout the day.

A day earlier, he disavowed Mourdock’s comments, although his campaign said Romney continues to support the Indiana Republican’s Senate candidacy. Romney opposes abortion but unlike Mourdock, supports exceptions in the case of rape.

Both candidates feverishly campaigned across the country Thursday. Obama cast his ballot early in Chicago in a stopover that was more than a photo opportunity — it was a high-profile attempt to boost turnout in early voting, a centerpiece of Obama’s strategy.

About 7.2 million people already have cast early ballots, either by mail or in person, according to the United States Elections Project at George Mason University. In all, about 35 percent of the electorate is expected to vote before Election Day. That would be a small increase over 2008.

Obama advisers have identified at least three viable options. Winning Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin would put him over the top, as would wins in Ohio, Iowa and Nevada. A five-state combination of Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado would also seal the deal for the president’s re-election.

Romney’s team has yet to publicly outline any specific pathway to victory. Without a win in Ohio, however, the Republican nominee would have to sweep every other competitive state.

That reality was the motivation behind Romney’s daylong swing through three Ohio cities Thursday. Obama finished his day in Ohio, too, with a 12,000-person rally on an airport tarmac — the final stop on his marathon, two-day drive for votes.

An upbeat Romney proclaimed his campaign has the momentum. But there are signs in Ohio, as well as Virginia, that his surge following the first debate has run its course.

The presidential contest crossed the $2 billion fundraising mark, putting the election on track to be the costliest in history. It’s being fueled by a campaign finance system vastly altered by the proliferation of “super” political action committees that are bankrolling TV ads in closely contested states.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.