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| After Storm Hiatus, Presidential Race Is Back in Full Swing | After Storm Hiatus, Presidential Race Is Back in Full Swing |
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| WASHINGTON — President Obama returned to the campaign trail with gusto on Thursday, holding rallies in three states even as his campaign releases a new television ad featuring effusive praise from former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. | |
| The ad, which will run in 10 states during the final days of the campaign, underscores Mr. Obama’s closing message by showing Mr. Powell, a Republican, declaring that “we ought to keep on the track that we are on.” | The ad, which will run in 10 states during the final days of the campaign, underscores Mr. Obama’s closing message by showing Mr. Powell, a Republican, declaring that “we ought to keep on the track that we are on.” |
| Mr. Obama’s return to the trail comes after a day that produced remarkable images of cooperation between the president and one of his harshest critics, Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey. The two men toured the state’s storm-ravaged coast, declaring themselves partners in the recovery efforts. | Mr. Obama’s return to the trail comes after a day that produced remarkable images of cooperation between the president and one of his harshest critics, Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey. The two men toured the state’s storm-ravaged coast, declaring themselves partners in the recovery efforts. |
| The trip to New Jersey capped a four-day hiatus from campaigning for Mr. Obama, who canceled events across battleground states as Hurricane Sandy first barreled toward the coast and then came ashore as a massive storm on Monday. On Thursday, the president is campaigning in Wisconsin, Nevada and Colorado. | |
| Aides to the president said Mr. Obama would use the final days of campaigning to deliver his closing argument. A spokesman for the campaign said the president would focus on the need to “reclaim” middle-class security after a decade of policies that have “undercut” the lives of many Americans. | Aides to the president said Mr. Obama would use the final days of campaigning to deliver his closing argument. A spokesman for the campaign said the president would focus on the need to “reclaim” middle-class security after a decade of policies that have “undercut” the lives of many Americans. |
| “Even though this is President Obama’s last campaign, he’s fighting for the same things he’s always believed and run on — that this country cannot succeed without a growing, thriving middle class,” said Adam Fetcher, a spokesman for Mr. Obama’s campaign. | “Even though this is President Obama’s last campaign, he’s fighting for the same things he’s always believed and run on — that this country cannot succeed without a growing, thriving middle class,” said Adam Fetcher, a spokesman for Mr. Obama’s campaign. |
| Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president, campaigned Thursday in Virginia, holding rallies in reliably conservative parts of the state that he must win to offset the president’s strength in the suburbs outside of Washington D.C. | Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for president, campaigned Thursday in Virginia, holding rallies in reliably conservative parts of the state that he must win to offset the president’s strength in the suburbs outside of Washington D.C. |
| After avoiding attacks on Mr. Obama for 72 hours because of the storm, Mr. Romney plunged back into the fray in Roanoke, Va., mocking the president for proposing the creation of cabinet-level post devoted to business development. Mr. Obama discussed the idea during an interview with MSNBC that aired on Monday, just as Mr. Romney was withdrawing from electioneering. | After avoiding attacks on Mr. Obama for 72 hours because of the storm, Mr. Romney plunged back into the fray in Roanoke, Va., mocking the president for proposing the creation of cabinet-level post devoted to business development. Mr. Obama discussed the idea during an interview with MSNBC that aired on Monday, just as Mr. Romney was withdrawing from electioneering. |
| “I don’t think adding a new chair in his cabinet will help add millions of jobs on main street,” Mr. Romney said at a rally Thursday | |
| morning at a family owned factory. “We don’t need a secretary of business to understand business we need a president who understands business and I do. | |
| Mr. Romney has played down his record as a businessman in closing week of the campaign, focusing instead on how he would govern should he win on Tuesday. He has talked up his bipartisan instincts and his record of cutting spending as governor of Massachusetts. On Thursday, he offered himself up as a champion of businesses. | |
| “Today, we’re at the lowest level of new business start-ups in 30 years,” he said. “So I want to change this dynamic and make business recognize they have a friend in Washington, not a foe.” | |
| In a new ad of his own, Mr. Romney mocks Mr. Obama’s suggestion this week that Mr. Obama might create a new cabinet-level position called “Secretary of Business.” In the ad, a narrator says the president’s answer to everything is adding more government bureaucracy. | In a new ad of his own, Mr. Romney mocks Mr. Obama’s suggestion this week that Mr. Obama might create a new cabinet-level position called “Secretary of Business.” In the ad, a narrator says the president’s answer to everything is adding more government bureaucracy. |
| “Why not have a president who actually understands business,” the ad says of Mr. Romney. “He’s done it before. He can do it again.” | “Why not have a president who actually understands business,” the ad says of Mr. Romney. “He’s done it before. He can do it again.” |
| A poll released by The New York Times, CBS News and Quinnipiac University on Wednesday showed a virtual tie in Virginia, with Mr. Obama receiving support from 49 percent of likely voters in the state compared with Mr. Romney’s 47 percent. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. | A poll released by The New York Times, CBS News and Quinnipiac University on Wednesday showed a virtual tie in Virginia, with Mr. Obama receiving support from 49 percent of likely voters in the state compared with Mr. Romney’s 47 percent. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. |
| On the first day of November, surrogates for the candidates — including their running mates — also are fanning out across the country in an effort to reach as many voters as possible as the campaign clock rapidly counts down toward Election Day. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be holding events in Iowa on Thursday. Representative Paul D. Ryan, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, will be in Colorado and Nevada. | On the first day of November, surrogates for the candidates — including their running mates — also are fanning out across the country in an effort to reach as many voters as possible as the campaign clock rapidly counts down toward Election Day. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will be holding events in Iowa on Thursday. Representative Paul D. Ryan, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, will be in Colorado and Nevada. |
| But Thursday’s focus will be on the candidates themselves as they seek to move beyond the natural disaster still affecting millions along the East Coast. With the remaining campaign now being counted in hours, not days, there is little time left to rally supporters and persuade the remaining undecided voters. | But Thursday’s focus will be on the candidates themselves as they seek to move beyond the natural disaster still affecting millions along the East Coast. With the remaining campaign now being counted in hours, not days, there is little time left to rally supporters and persuade the remaining undecided voters. |
| New polls from NBC News, The Wall Street Journal and Marist out Thursday morning show Mr. Obama holding on to narrow leads in Iowa and locked in tight races with Mr. Romney in Wisconsin and New Hampshire. | New polls from NBC News, The Wall Street Journal and Marist out Thursday morning show Mr. Obama holding on to narrow leads in Iowa and locked in tight races with Mr. Romney in Wisconsin and New Hampshire. |
| The close races — especially in places like Wisconsin, which had not been considered to be competitive for many weeks — have set the stage for a rhetorical battle by the campaigns over which side has the momentum going into the final weekend of the campaign. | The close races — especially in places like Wisconsin, which had not been considered to be competitive for many weeks — have set the stage for a rhetorical battle by the campaigns over which side has the momentum going into the final weekend of the campaign. |
| On Wednesday, top officials from the campaigns held conference calls with reporters in which they accused the other side of trying to mislead the public about the true state of the race in the key battleground states. | On Wednesday, top officials from the campaigns held conference calls with reporters in which they accused the other side of trying to mislead the public about the true state of the race in the key battleground states. |
| Advisers to Mr. Romney said they were making a late push to win Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania because of polling evidence suggesting that the races in those states are tightening and that the president is losing support in those places. Mr. Romney’s campaign and several Republican third-party groups have begun advertising in the states. | Advisers to Mr. Romney said they were making a late push to win Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania because of polling evidence suggesting that the races in those states are tightening and that the president is losing support in those places. Mr. Romney’s campaign and several Republican third-party groups have begun advertising in the states. |
| “This is opening up yet another front for them to defend,” Rich Beeson, Mr. Romney’s political director, told reporters on Wednesday. | “This is opening up yet another front for them to defend,” Rich Beeson, Mr. Romney’s political director, told reporters on Wednesday. |
| Top strategists for Mr. Obama scoffed at that notion Wednesday, saying that the president is in no danger of losing those three states. David Axelrod, the president’s chief strategist, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program Wednesday morning that he would shave off his mustache of 40 years if Mr. Obama lost any of those three states. | Top strategists for Mr. Obama scoffed at that notion Wednesday, saying that the president is in no danger of losing those three states. David Axelrod, the president’s chief strategist, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program Wednesday morning that he would shave off his mustache of 40 years if Mr. Obama lost any of those three states. |
| The president’s strategists said visits to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania by Mr. Biden and former President Bill Clinton were not admissions of weakness. They said Mr. Romney’s decision to spend money in those states was an admission that he cannot win some of the more traditional battleground states. | The president’s strategists said visits to Wisconsin, Minnesota and Pennsylvania by Mr. Biden and former President Bill Clinton were not admissions of weakness. They said Mr. Romney’s decision to spend money in those states was an admission that he cannot win some of the more traditional battleground states. |
| “Its desperation is palpable,” said Jim Messina, the president’s campaign manager, said of the Romney campaign. | “Its desperation is palpable,” said Jim Messina, the president’s campaign manager, said of the Romney campaign. |