U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will spend another day in the crucial swing state of Ohio Wednesday, as he continues to inch closer to President Barack Obama in public opinion polls.

Recent nationwide polls show the former Massachusetts governor essentially tied with the president with less than a month remaining before the November 6 election. Mr. Romney's standing has surged since his strong performance in last week's first presidential debate.

Mr. Romney told supporters at a large rally in Ohio Tuesday night the debate revealed a clear difference between himself and the president.

''Look you can compare two very different paths, the president is describing what he has done for the last four years, he calls it 'forward'. I call it 'forewarned'…we know where that leads.''

The president also spent Tuesday in Ohio, urging students at Ohio State University to register and vote. Mr. Obama criticized Mr. Romney's proposals to reduce the deficit, including cutting government funding for public broadcasting, which airs the popular children's program “Sesame Street.”

“He's decided we're going after Big Bird. Elmo's making a run for the border, Oscar's hiding out in a trash can. Governor Romney wants to let Wall Street run wild again but he's going to bring down the hammer on Sesame Street. Look, that is not leadership, that's salesmanship.”

Mr. Obama will spend Wednesday at the White House.

Earlier Wednesday, The Des Moines Register newspaper in Iowa, another crucial swing state in the November election, published an interview with Mr. Romney in which he declared he would not pursue any legislation aimed at restricting or outlawing abortion if he were elected.

However, Mr. Romney vowed to reinstate a policy that would ban U.S. taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortions in foreign countries. Mr. Obama rescinded the controversial directive shortly after taking office in 2009.