Obama keeps heat on Romney over Mourdock

CINCINNATI – President Barack Obama, seeking to shore up support among women, intensified his pressure Thursday on Mitt Romney to break any ties with a Republican Senate candidate who said that if a woman becomes pregnant from rape it is “something God intended.” Romney ignored the emotional social issue, holding to an optimistic campaign tone as he fought for victory in crucial Ohio.

Obama, wrapping up a 40-hour battleground state blitz, also headed to his hometown of Chicago and cast his ballot 12 days before Election Day. The stopover was more than a photo opportunity – it was a high-profile attempt to boost turnout in early voting, a centerpiece of Obama’s strategy.

The 2012 presidential contest crossed the $2 billion fundraising mark Thursday, putting the election on track to be the costliest in history. It’s being fueled by a campaign finance system vastly altered by the proliferation of “super” political action committees that are bankrolling TV ads in closely contested states.

Back on the campaign trail, the president made repeated, though indirect, references to Indiana Republican Richard Mourdock’s controversial comment on rape and pregnancy.

“We’ve seen again this week, I don’t think any male politicians should be making health care decisions for women,” Obama told a crowd of about 15,000 on an unseasonably warm fall day in Richmond, Va. The president’s aides pressed further, using a Web video to highlight Romney’s endorsement of Mourdock and to accuse the GOP nominee of kowtowing to his party’s extreme elements.

Romney, who appears in a television advertisement declaring his support for Mourdock, brushed aside questions on the matter from reporters throughout the day. He centered his efforts instead on turning his campaign’s claims of momentum into a more practical – and ultimately necessary – roadmap to winning the required 270 Electoral College votes. Ohio is crucial to that effort.

Romney has disavowed Mourdock’s comments, but his campaign says he continues to support the Indiana Republican’s Senate candidacy.

Less than two weeks from Election Day, both candidates feverishly campaigned across the country in an exceedingly close race.

Opinion polls show Obama and Romney tied nationally. A new Associated Press-GfK poll of likely voters had Romney up 47 percent to 45 percent, a result within the poll’s margin of sampling error. But the race will really be decided by nine or so competitive states: Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado.

The urgent task for both campaigns is to cobble together wins in enough states to cross the 270 threshold.

Obama advisers have identified at least three viable options. Winning Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin would put him over the top, as would winning Ohio, Iowa and Nevada. A five-state combination of Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado would also seal the deal for the president’s re-election.

Romney’s team has yet to publicly outline any specific pathways to 270. Without a win in Ohio, however, the Republican nominee would have to sweep every other competitive state.

In Ohio, internal Republican and Democratic campaign polls this week showed Obama with a lead, just outside the margin of sampling error.

The race in Virginia remains close. Romney has established a slim lead, but the shift toward him seen during the three weeks of debates has slowed or stopped, internal polls from both parties showed.

Romney faced fresh scrutiny of his business record Thursday following the release of newly unsealed testimony related to Staples founder Tom Sternberg’s divorce. Documents show Romney said he was initially skeptical of the idea for Staples, the office supply chain he lauds as a business success story that he helped create.

Romney also acknowledged in testimony in Massachusetts probate court in 1991 that he and other Staples directors created a special class of company stock for Stemberg’s then-wife as a “favor” to Stemberg, who was a speaker at the August Republican convention. That special deal was not offered to other Staples shareholders, according to testimony. Throughout the campaign, Romney has described Staples as a “great American success story” and took credit for its growth to a mega-firm employing nearly 90,000 workers.

Robert Jones, an attorney for Romney, rejected the notion that Romney undervalued Staples stock to help Stemberg.

As the campaign enters its final days, both sides are focused on winning the increasingly narrow sliver of undecided voters. Obama made a personal appeal to late-deciding voters Wednesday in a conference call from Air Force One.

The president’s campaign also trumpeted the endorsement by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican who supported Obama in 2008. Powell praised Obama’s handling of the economic recovery, telling “CBS This Morning,” “I think we’ve begun to come out of the dive and we’re gaining altitude.”