U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will each hold campaign rallies in Ohio Wednesday.
Mr. Romney began a two-day bus tour of the industrial state Tuesday, joining U.S. Representative Paul Ryan, his vice-presidential running mate, at a rally near the city of Dayton. In their first joint campaign appearance in several days, the two Republicans said they could revise the struggling U.S. economy, something they said Mr. Obama has failed to do.
Mr. Romney also accused the president of failing to take on China's trade practices, including stealing U.S. intellectual property, which he says has cost jobs in the United States.
Mr. Romney will make a campaign appearance Wednesday with golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, an Ohio native.
The president will reach out to a key group of supporters, young adult voters, during campaign rallies at two Ohio colleges Wednesday.
Mr. Obama has begun to take a significant lead in voter opinion surveys in Ohio and across the nation with six weeks left before the November 6 election.
No Republican presidential candidate has won the White House without winning Ohio, one of a handful of states with a large number of electoral votes.
The Republican challenger and Mr. Obama, a Democrat, appeared Tuesday at the global forum hosted by former President Bill Clinton in New York.
Mr. Romney told world leaders at the forum that idleness, poverty, and government corruption fuel anger among young people across the Middle East. He said promoting jobs and free enterprise would be what he calls a “higher priority” if he is elected president.
Mr. Romney's plans include making foreign aid to developing countries contingent on those nations removing trade barriers and opening their markets to U.S. investment.
During his address at the forum, Mr. Obama announced new programs aimed at fighting human trafficking, which he called modern-day human slavery.
The new programs announced by Mr. Obama include strengthening laws preventing federal contractors from using trafficked workers.
