Obama and Romney play up military credentials

Mitt Romney has not led a major poll since August 27th and Democratic commentators are asking how long donors will keep contributing, writes LARA MARLOWEin Washington

BARACK OBAMA and Mitt Romney, neither of whom has served in the military, targeted the large number of veterans and defence industry workers in Virginia yesterday as they visited the same states at the same time for the third consecutive day.

In 2008, Obama was the first Democrat to win Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

He leads Romney in polls there, but the Romney campaign says it the state is still winnable because some polls are within the margin of error and there are a significant number of undecided voters.

Romney promised veterans at the American Legion hall in Springfield that he will prevent defence cuts under the “fiscal cliff” agreed by Republicans and Democrats last year.

“It is still a troubled and dangerous world, and the idea of cutting our military commitment by a trillion dollars over this decade is unthinkable and devastating,” he said. “And when I become president of the United States, we will stop it. I will not cut our commitment to our military.”

Romney was scheduled to attend a $50,000 a plate fundraising dinner at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC last night.

With the latest Gallup tracking poll, which averages a week’s daily surveys, showing Obama 6 points ahead of Romney nationwide, at 50 to 44 per cent, Democratic commentators are asking how long Romney’s donors will continue contributing.

Romney has not led a major poll since August 27th. At a $2,500 a head fundraising breakfast at the Hilton in New York earlier this month, not a single guest at a table of 10 said they still believed Romney could win, the website Politico reported. Obama was introduced at his rally in Virginia Beach by a former secretary of the navy. “No one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job or a roof over their heads when they come home,” the president said.

“My opponent seems to have different views. He said it was tragic to end the war in Iraq. He won’t tell us how or what he’d do in Afghanistan. I have and I will.”

The two men held a total of five rallies in Ohio on Wednesday. A New York Times/Quinnipiac poll released on Wednesday showed Obama 10 points ahead of Romney in the “Buckeye state”.

Romney is trying to play up his compassionate side. In a new television advertisement, he

looks the viewer in the eye and says, “President Obama and I both care about poor and middle-class families. The difference is, my policies will make things better for them.”