In critical Ohio, Obama rips Romney ad on auto industry as 'scare' tactic - Washington Post

Romney, delivering what his campaign described as his closing argument to voters, warned at a rally in Wisconsin that another debt-ceiling standoff would soon follow if Obama received a second term, leading to a possible government shutdown and default on debts.

Appearing in the critical battleground of central Ohio, Obama made his first extended remarks about a Romney television commercial that is in heavy rotation in the state. Saying that General Motors and Chrysler are expanding in China, it may leave some Ohioans with the impression that U.S. jobs, including at Toledo-based Jeep, are moving there.

Democrats have attacked the ad as untrue, and independent analysts, including The Washington Post's Fact Checker, have criticized it as, at the least, misleading. Chrysler announced a year ago it would add 1,100 jobs at its Toledo plant.

Obama told a crowd of 2,800 at the Franklin County Fairgrounds that the ad has prompted workers at the Jeep plant to call their employers asking if they will lose their jobs.

"The reason they're making the calls is because Governor Romney is running an ad that says so. Except it's not true," Obama said. "The car companies themselves have told Governor Romney to knock it off. GM said we think creating jobs in the United States should be a source of bipartisan pride. I could not agree more."

Romney aides have said they are confident their candidate has momentum and will win Ohio. They say the wording of the ad is accurate and provides important context on an issue Obama has run on for months.

Obama began delivering his own closing argument Thursday, telling voters that he is the candidate they can trust because they have known him for four years and because he will fight for the middle class. He argued that Romney is not the candidate of change because he shifts positions and wants to return to the policies of the George W. Bush era.

Obama's appearance in Hilliard was his first of three rallies in the state Friday, and he will appear in Ohio each of the next three days, underscoring the importance of a swing state with 18 electoral votes that is considered a near must-win for both campaigns. The president has continued to remind Ohio voters that Romney did not support his administration's federal bailout of Chrysler and GM three years ago. Romney wrote an op-ed article at the time calling for a managed bankruptcy.

"I understand Governor Romney is having a tough time here in Ohio because he was against saving the U.S. auto industry, and it's hard to run away from it when you're on tape saying, 'Let the auto industry go bankrupt,'" Obama said. "I know we're close to an election, but this is not a game. You don't scare hardworking Americans just to scare up some votes. That's not what being president is all about. That's not leadership."