The Best Location in the Nation played host to a forceful, impassioned Presidential address on Thursday, in which President Obama not only sought to make his economic philosophy further distinct from that of his opponent, but made a direct appeal to voters in Ohio, the swing state of swing states:
“This November is your chance to render a verdict on the debate over how to grow the economy, how to create good jobs, how to pay down our deficit,” Mr. Obama told enthusiastic supporters at Cuyahoga Community College here. “Your vote will finally determine the path that we take as a nation — not just tomorrow, but for years to come.”
The man that the President sought in that speech to cast as George W. Bush redux, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, stated his own case yesterday in Cincinnati:
“Now, I know that he will have all sorts of excuses, and he’ll have all sorts of ideas he’ll describe about how he’ll make things better,” Mr. Romney said. “But what he says and what he does are not always the exact same thing. And so if people want to know how his economic policies have worked and how they perform, why they can talk to their neighbor and ask if things are better.”
The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan posted a thorough live-blog of the President's speech, in case you don't have the time to watch it in its entirety above. Sullivan also collects some reactions, including Slate's Matthew Yglesias asking some important and critical questions of the President about how he plans to act on his words. And be sure to check out the thorough msnbc analysis from both Martin Bashir immediately after the speech, and The Rachel Maddow Show.
More links from around our political universe to come later in the morning in our normal MHP Daily, shortly after Melissa's appearance today with Thomas Roberts on msnbc in the 11:00am hour. Check back around midday!