Obama talks jobs; Romney hails defense

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - President Obama pledged to create many more jobs and "make the middle class secure again" in a campaign-closing appeal on Thursday - more than five weeks before Election Day - to voters already casting ballots in large numbers.

Republican Mitt Romney, focusing on threats beyond American shores, accused the commander in chief of backing dangerous cuts in defense spending.

"The idea of cutting our military is unthinkable and devastating," declared the challenger, struggling to reverse a slide in opinion polls.

Romney and Obama campaigned a few hundred miles apart in Virginia. They'll be in much closer quarters Wednesday in Denver - for the first of three presidential debates on the campaign calendar.

In a race where the economy is the dominant issue, there was a fresh sign of national weakness as the Commerce Department lowered its earlier estimate of tepid growth last spring. Romney and his allies seized on the news as evidence that Obama's policies aren't working.

Meanwhile, a survey by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation suggested Obama has gained ground among older voters after a month-long ad war over Republican plans for Medicare.

Early voting has begun in Virginia as well as South Dakota, Idaho, and Vermont. It began during the day in Wyoming as well as in Iowa, like Virginia one of the most highly contested states.

Campaigning in Virginia Beach, Obama said, "It's time for a new economic patriotism, an economic patriotism rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class." It was a line straight from the two-minute television commercial his campaign released overnight. He said that if reelected, he would back policies to create a million manufacturing jobs, help businesses double exports, and give tax breaks to companies that "invest in America, not ship jobs overseas."

Obama's campaign put out a second, scathing commercial during the day based on Romney's recorded comments from last May that 47 percent of Americans don't pay income taxes and feel they are victims entitled to government benefits. Romney added that as a candidate his job is not to worry about them.

Romney countered with a new ad of his own, pointing to comments Obama made four years ago when he said he would support proposals to raise the cost of business for facilities than run on coal. "So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them," the then-presidential candidate is seen saying.

Romney campaigned at an American Legion hall in Springfield, Va., a suburb of Washington, accusing Obama of supporting cuts in the defense budget that would be detrimental to the nation's military readiness. "The world is not a safe place. It remains dangerous," he said, referring to North Korea, Syria, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. "The idea of cutting our military commitment by a trillion dollars over this decade is unthinkable and devastating."

The $1 trillion Romney mentioned in defense cuts had the support of Republicans and Democrats alike in Congress, although he says GOP lawmakers made a mistake in voting for the reductions and several now want to prevent them from taking effect.