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Romney pulls level with Obama
US President Barack Obama will accept this week his party's nomination in Charlotte tied in the race with his Republican party rival Mitt Romney.
US President Barack Obama will accept this week his party's nomination in Charlotte tied in the race with his Republican party rival Mitt Romney.
Romney got a bounce from his convention last week to tie the race with the president at 45%, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday. The president will get a bounce of his own from the Democratic party convention. He will accept the party's nomination on Thursday to seek a second term, a technicality.
The convention, however, will give him a chance to fire up the party base, especially the young, insurgent voters who gave him the White House in 2008.
At a campaign event at the University of Colorado on Sunday, the president expressly urged young voters to register and vote. "Don't boo, vote," he said at one stage.
He will also be watched for what he says about the economy, which has clearly emerge as the top issue for American voters, and the crux of Republicans' case against him.
Unemployment continues to be high, 8.3 % according to the last count. Though recession ended just a couple of months into his presidency, recovery has been frustratingly slow.
"On Thursday, I'm going to offer you what I believe is a better path forward — a path that will grow this economy and create more jobs and strengthen the middle class," Obama said.
But his officials and advisors struggled addressing the issue — if Americans are better off today than four years ago — on the many talk shows they appeared on on Sunday.
"By any measure the country has moved forward over the last four years," said Obama campaign's Stephanie Cutter. "It might not be as fast as some people would've hoped."
Most of them ended blaming Bush. Republicans said it's about time the president started taking responsibility for the economy, and not blame it on Bush.
