Obama stumps in battleground Ohio

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COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama, campaigning Tuesday in Ohio, asked voters to keep the economic recovery going by electing him to a second term.

Obama urged students at Ohio State University in Columbus to beat the 9 p.m. Tuesday deadline to register to vote, saying, "We need you fired up."

The president reiterated the promises he made during his 2008 campaign for the White House, noting Osama bin Laden was dead, the Iraq war has been ended, and the war in Afghanistan is winding down.

He also said he cut taxes for small businesses and middle-class families and passed healthcare reform so insurance companies won't be "jerking you around anymore."

Obama said the "top-down" economics promoted by Republican challenger Mitt Romney would move the country backwards, adding the former Massachusetts governor's promise to cut taxes for the wealthy without adding to the deficit would inevitably leave the middle class to foot the bill.

First lady Michelle Obama, campaigning at the Loudoun County Fairgrounds in Sterling, Va., said this election is a choice about "our values, our hopes, and our aspirations. It's a choice about the America we want to leave for our kids and grandkids."

The first lady listed her husband's accomplishments in office but said there's more to be done.

"While he is proud of what we've all achieved together, my husband is nowhere near satisfied -- understand that," Michelle Obama said. "Because Barack knows better than anyone that too many people are still hurting. He knows that there's plenty of work left to be done. And as President Clinton said, it's going to take a lot longer than four years to finish rebuilding an economy from the brink of collapse."