DUELING ECONOMIC SPEECHES IN THE SWING STATE OF OHIO............

On Thursday both President Obama and Governor Romney delivered among simultaneous speeches regarding the state of the American Economy and their plans to address its continuing recovery and the creation of jobs in the throes of high unemployment.  Both candidates for President spoke in the vitally important swing state of Ohio, with 18 Electoral Votes; which no Republican has ever been elected to the White House without winning, and polls currently show in a statistical tie.  Governor Romney speaking in Cincinnati, at a factory told the assembled crowd, that Obama's record is, "long on words and short on action that created jobs",...and touted his fifty nine point plan, that he said will fix the economy from, "the top down".  A spokesman for the Romney campaign later added, that President Obama is, "out of new ideas", to restore and grown the economy.  President Obama spoke at a community college in Cleveland, two hundred and fifty miles away, where he warned those gathered for his speech that Romney's proposals are not new, saying, "if you want to give the policies of the last decade another try then you should vote for Mr. Romney".  He went on to state that voting for Romney and his allies in Congress will lead down that same path once again.  The President pledged if reelected he will focus on education, tax reform, research, and development, to build up the middle class.  Governor Romney is striving to shape the General Election Presidential Campaign as a referendum on President Obama's record, while President Obama is attempting to contrast the contest as a choice between opposite visions as to the direction the USA will take depending who is elected President in November.  Recent polls in Ohio and nationally, show the race to be tightly contested.  Obama edging out Romney within the margin of error in Ohio; but Romney leading Obama by one percentage point nationwide, when voters were asked who would be better at creating jobs.  Another poll indicates there may be an advantage to be gained by President Obama continuing to blame his predecessor for the gravity of the economic hardship.  68% of those asked in a Gallup Poll published Thursday said President George W. Bush, bears a Great Deal or Moderate Amount of the Blame for the fiscal instability; while 52% believe that President Barack Obama Deserves the Blame............Fr.  Troy