one out of every eight ohioans has a link to the auto industry. so this trade complaint is something that really resonates with them. and, of course, he s also answering the steady stream of criticism he s gotten from mitt romney who has argued he hasn t been tough enough on china. i think president obama is speaking to the folks in ohio, but also speaking to the broader american community of voters and trying to answer those charges that he hasn t been tough enough on china. and the president also made the point, i believe, earlier today that as far as he s concerned mitt romney is an expert in outsourcing jobs to china, so any kind of critique that romney offers of the president s leadership in relation to china is somewhat moot. reporter: well, it s true. there has been a pretty heated back and forth. you re absolutely right. president obama came out and accused romney of outsourcing jobs to china. this is something that he has charged romney with before, but he had a couple new
election. the president is enjoying a notable lead over mr. romney in ohio, seven points, and, of course, you know better than anyone, no republican has ever won the presidency without winning that very state. reporter: you re absolutely right about that. good afternoon, martin. president obama knows that as well. that s why he s here. he is unveiling a new trade complaint against china, essentially accusing china of subsidizing auto parts and autos, which the obama administration is arguing is unfairly impacting the u.s. auto industry. so why now, why here in ohio? i think despite the fact that he has that lead that you just mentioned, martin, the obama campaign is not taking anything for granted right now. as you know, the debates are coming up, that s going to be an opportunity for mitt romney to narrow the gap and both xauns are pouring millions of dollars into negative attack ads in these key battleground states. president obama touting something that really appeals to the voter
goggles wrchlt it s very clear they are looking to paths to 270. they need all three of these states, at least two of the three and have to run the table everywhere else to get to 270. i looked at the conventions, they each had two things to do. the way to measure the bounce was to look at romney at his favorable ratings after the convention and for the president to sort of where did people think the country was at? well, the president got a bounce on right track, wrong track. seeing in national and state polls. look at these fave, unfave, 47-45 in florida, 46-45 in virginia. okay. not bad, competitive but 40-50 in ohio. i think we see what s wrong with romney in ohio and it all has to do with the tax on his wealth. the failure of governor romney to explain at the convention how he was going to make middle class lives better was the great missing element of his message there and one of the reasons he didn t get as much of a bounce as he could have or
shot to string together a different set of states. guy on the defense is playing defense. obama could still the one thing that is consistent. if he could stop romney in ohio and virginia, very tough it s still possible for romney to get there, but very difficult to do. bret: on this map, missouri is lean romney. karl, i have to ask you about this comment that was from a private get together of fundraiser, i guess, a meeting. in which you said about the senate candidate there. we should sink todd akin if he is found mysteriously murdered don t look for my whereabouts. not exactly the close but close enough. bret: the one they put out. this is a comment made in, a remark made if private conversation. when it became public, started dialing up the numbers i had for todd akin, congressman akin, called him. apologized for the intemprent remark. he could haven t been more gracious and kind accepting my apology. i wish i hadn t said it in private. when it became public the
shot to string together a different set of states. guy on the defense is playing defense. obama could still the one thing that is consistent. if he could stop romney in ohio and virginia, very tough it s still possible for romney to get there, but very difficult to do. bret: on this map, missouri is lean romney. karl, i have to ask you about this comment that was from a private get together of fundraiser, i guess, a meeting. in which you said about the senate candidate there. we should sink todd akin if he is found mysteriously murdered don t look for my whereabouts. not exactly the close but close enough. bret: the one they put out. this is a comment made in, a remark made if private conversation. when it became public, started dialing up the numbers i had for todd akin, congressman akin, called him. apologized for the intemprent remark. he could haven t been more gracious and kind accepting my apology. i wish i hadn t said it in private. when it became public the