At Cuyahoga Community College, President Obama blamed much of the nation’s economic woes on political gridlock in Washington that’s blocked many of his economic initiatives, and on Republican polices from before he was elected in 2008. The president says he’s committed to policies that grow the middle-class, not the loosened business regulations and tax cuts Romney supports.

Obama:  “If you agree with that you should vote for them, and I guarantee they will take us in that direction. I believe we need a plan for better education and training and energy independence and new research and innovation and for rebuilding our infrastructure, for a tax code that creates jobs in America and pays down our debt in a way that’s balanced.”

Republican Ohio Senator Rob Portman concedes that President Obama inherited tough economic problems. But Portman says the president mishandled the crisis.

Portman:  "The question is, what did he do with it. And I would respectfully disagree that the stimulus worked. By the president's own predictions right now we would be under 6% unemployment if the stimulus worked. That's what he told us. That hasn't happened unfortunetly because  much of the stimulus dollars were not used for anything resembling economic growth, it was used to grow government."