Romney, Obama prepare for second debate

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Romney, Obama prepare for second debate

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Obama was hunkering down to go over the game plan for the town-hall style debate with Romney.

13 October,2012 10:22 pm

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is promoting newfound enthusiasm for his candidacy with campaign stops Saturday in Ohio as President Barack Obama highlights the success of American automakers in the wake of a government bailout. Both men are preparing for their critical second debate, set for Tuesday in New York.Obama was hunkering down Saturday in Virginia to go over the game plan for the town-hall style debate with Romney. But his weekly official radio and Internet address spoke of an industry thats critical to Ohio, a battleground state that is perhaps the most important to his Republican opponents White House hopes.We refused to throw in the towel and do nothing. We refused to let Detroit go bankrupt, Obama said in the address. GM is back. Ford and Chrysler are growing again. Together, our auto industry has created nearly a quarter of a million new jobs right here in America.Romney opposed using government funds to help the auto industry go through bankruptcy. Many analysts believe the industry would not have survived if it had relied on private investment for rescue. Its an issue that has dogged Romney in Ohio, where numerous auto parts suppliers also benefited from the survival of the big three automakers.The Obama campaign also released a new TV ad narrated by actor Morgan Freeman noting the challenges Obama inherited and highlighting the presidents successes, including saving jobs for American autoworkers and killing Osama bin Laden.Romney is concluding a week of campaign rallies that saw him drawing larger, more excited crowds than he has through the fall campaign. More than 10,000 people turned out to several rallies, with the campaign saying that more people were signing up to attend events in the wake of Romneys strong debate performance on Oct. 3 in Denver, Colorado.Ive had the fun of going back and forth across Ohio, and this week I was also in Florida and Iowa, I was in North Carolina and Virginia. And you know what? There is a growing crescendo of enthusiasm, Romney told a crowd of thousands at a sunset rally Friday in Lancaster, south of Columbus, where he and running mate Paul Ryan appeared together.The U.S. president is not chosen by a nationwide popular vote but in state-by-state contests, making swing states like Ohio which are neither reliably Republican nor Democratic important in such a tight election. Ohio is perhaps the most important of these states because no Republican has lost the state and gone on to win the White House.Saturday will be the fourth of the last five days Romney will spend campaigning in this industrial, Midwestern state critical to his hopes of winning the White House. His campaign swing comes as he and Republicans criticize Obama for the handling of the terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.Romney accused Vice President Joe Biden of doubling down on denial concerning security at the diplomatic post where the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed. During the vice presidential debate Thursday, Biden said we werent told about the Benghazi consulates requests for additional security. Although a State Department official told Congress on Wednesday about the requests, the White House said Friday that Biden was speaking just for himself and for the president.The vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of State Department officials, said Romney, who was eager to stoke a controversy that has flared periodically since the attack. American citizens have a right to know just whats going on. And were going to find out.Romney plans to spend Saturday morning at a hotel outside Columbus, where hell meet with top advisers and get ready for his showdown with Obama in Hempstead, New York, on Tuesday. He returns to Massachusetts in the evening but first makes two campaign stops in Ohio.