Obama And Romney Hit Key US Swing States

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have criss-crossed the US visiting the handful of battleground states that could swing the presidential election in their favour.

Opinion polls put the two men neck-and-neck in the popular vote with just two days left before polling, but the US electoral college system means the race will be decided in less than 10 states.

The key battlegrounds are Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire.

On Saturday both candidates were in the same Iowa town as they attempted to get out as many supporters as possible for Tuesday's vote, with the Republican candidate appealing to wavering voters by pledging to work with the Democrats to get things done.

"I want you to reach across the street to the neighbour, who has that other sign in his front yard. And I'm going to reach across the aisle in Washington DC, to the politicians who are working for the other candidate," Mr Romney told about 2,000 supporters in Dubuque.

Six hours later the president appeared, highlighting his successes while acknowledging that there was still work to be done to rebuild the economy.

"After two years of campaigning and after four years as president, you know me by now," Mr Obama said.

"You may not agree with every decision I made, you may have sometimes been frustrated with the pace of change. But you know that I say what I mean and I mean what I say."

Earlier in the day in Ohio, Mr Obama again hammered his rival for opposing his bailout of the car industry and said his challenger tried to scare workers by saying inaccurately that Chrysler planned to shift jobs to China.

About 12% of jobs in the key state are tied to vehicle manufacturing and the bailout has helped Mr Obama win over some of the white-working class voters who are backing Mr Romney elsewhere.

He added the election was "not just a choice between two candidates or two parties, it's a choice between two different visions for America".

Mr Romney will have a hard time winning the White House if he does not carry Ohio but a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Saturday showed him trailing by a statistically meaningless margin of just 1%. However, other polls in recent days have put him slightly further behind.

Polls in the other key states also show there is little to separate the pair.

The president started the day at the federal government's disaster-relief headquarters in Washington DC, where he received an update on the efforts to help the US East Coast recover from superstorm Sandy.

He also visited Milwaukee and Wisconsin before ending the day in Bristow, Virginia – where he was joined by former president Bill Clinton.

Mr Romney began on Saturday with a morning rally on the New Hampshire seacoast. He then headed to Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

In New Hampshire, he mocked Mr Obama for telling supporters a day earlier that voting would be their "best revenge".

"Vote for 'revenge?'" the Republican candidate asked. "Let me tell you what I'd like to tell you: Vote for love of country. It is time we lead America to a better place."