>> is crisscrossing the crucial battleground state of ohio again today and mitt romney will be holding two events. one in portsmouth, another in lebanon. in hours paul ryan holds his rally in youngstown. that is where we find nbc's ron mott live at youngstown state university . we know that the campaign is making a very strong push for ohio .
>> yeah. hey there, alex . good saturday morning to you, as well. we're back in ohio , which has really become a home away from home for the romney and the obama campaigns. that's how important ohio is in this election with 23 days to go to the election on november 6th . now, governor romney and paul ryan reunited on the trail last night in ran coster, ohio . big crowd down there, alex , last night. about 8500 according to the campaign. very enthusiastic, very energetic. there is a lot of work to be made up here for this romney campaign. polls show that the governor still trails the president but he has cut into that lead by about half over the last couple of weeks. and we can also tell you that both paul ryan and mitt romney were on the record yesterday about this situation down in libya, and what vice president joe biden said in thursday night's debate. the republicans believe they caught him contradicting the state department . listen to what these two republicans had to say on the trail yesterday.
>> the vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of state department officials. he's doubling down on denial.
>> this is not what leadership looks like. we need clarity, not confusion. we need accountability, and no more excuses.
>>> now ohio may ultimately be the state that turns this election one way or another. as we mentioned earlier the president still holding a lead here. obviously the auto bailout a big factor alex . about one in eight jobs are related to the auto industry . the president approved that bailout of general motors and chrysler. governor romney favored a managed bankruptcy. we'll have to see if he can make up the ground with 23 days to go. as you mentioned crisscross the state today. paul ryan will head up to minnesota and back to janesville, wisconsin tonight. a little rest for the weary, alex .
>> it's kind of interesting to me that we have the president off the campaign trail. he is prepping, prepping, prepping. down in virginia. and that you have mitt romney out there among the crowds, campaigning, campaigning. do you think that they feel like they've got this debate thing down? they know what they're doing?
>> well you could tell yesterday, being with the paul ryan staff, that there's just a little more confidence in the air. they were very pumped up about how well he did in that debate thursday night. of course the president admitted that he had a bad night in that first debate. so the republicans filled up 2-0 in these first two debates so there is a lot of confidence going in to that debate on tuesday. but, as they say, ohio 's very important to this campaign in particular. that's why they're doing so much work here.
>> ron mott, many thanks.
>> yeah. hey there, alex . good saturday morning to you, as well. we're back in ohio , which has really become a home away from home for the romney and the obama campaigns. that's how important ohio is in this election with 23 days to go to the election on november 6th . now, governor romney and paul ryan reunited on the trail last night in ran coster, ohio . big crowd down there, alex , last night. about 8500 according to the campaign. very enthusiastic, very energetic. there is a lot of work to be made up here for this romney campaign. polls show that the governor still trails the president but he has cut into that lead by about half over the last couple of weeks. and we can also tell you that both paul ryan and mitt romney were on the record yesterday about this situation down in libya, and what vice president joe biden said in thursday night's debate. the republicans believe they caught him contradicting the state department . listen to what these two republicans had to say on the trail yesterday.
>> the vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of state department officials. he's doubling down on denial.
>> this is not what leadership looks like. we need clarity, not confusion. we need accountability, and no more excuses.
>>> now ohio may ultimately be the state that turns this election one way or another. as we mentioned earlier the president still holding a lead here. obviously the auto bailout a big factor alex . about one in eight jobs are related to the auto industry . the president approved that bailout of general motors and chrysler. governor romney favored a managed bankruptcy. we'll have to see if he can make up the ground with 23 days to go. as you mentioned crisscross the state today. paul ryan will head up to minnesota and back to janesville, wisconsin tonight. a little rest for the weary, alex .
>> it's kind of interesting to me that we have the president off the campaign trail. he is prepping, prepping, prepping. down in virginia. and that you have mitt romney out there among the crowds, campaigning, campaigning. do you think that they feel like they've got this debate thing down? they know what they're doing?
>> well you could tell yesterday, being with the paul ryan staff, that there's just a little more confidence in the air. they were very pumped up about how well he did in that debate thursday night. of course the president admitted that he had a bad night in that first debate. so the republicans filled up 2-0 in these first two debates so there is a lot of confidence going in to that debate on tuesday. but, as they say, ohio 's very important to this campaign in particular. that's why they're doing so much work here.
>> ron mott, many thanks.