Obama Nightly News: World of Mittcraft (final battle) Edition

THE PRESIDENT AS CAMPAIGNER, TODAY

This video is from CSPAN, and it is only 3:32 long. The President's message from 3:04 to 3:30 is must-watch video. Here's the transcript of that snippet, but you should really watch President Barack Obama deliver it:

"After 4 years as President you know me. You may not agree with every decision I've made. You may be frustrated sometimes with the pace of change, but you know what I believe. You know where I stand. You know I tell the truth. You know that I fight for you and your families every single day as hard as I know how. You know that." [crazy applause]

Yes, sir, we know that.  

The President arrived in Columbus, Ohio at 1:05 this morning and delivered a speech in Hilliard, Ohio at 10:20 am. From there, he traveled the state to Springfield at 12:55 pm and then on to a third speech in Lima, Ohio. The POTUS returned to the White House at 6:40 pm. Each link above provides the full transcript to the speech in that Ohio town. Here are some snippets from President Obama's speech in Hilliard, leading off with a message about Hurricane Sandy:

But we’ve also been inspired these last few days by the heroes who were running into buildings and wading through water; and the neighbors who were helping neighbors cope with tragedy; the leaders of different parties working together to fix what’s broken -- (applause) -- a spirit that says no matter how bad the storm is, no matter how tough times are, we’re all in this together.  (Applause.)  We rise or fall as one nation and as one people.

Running on his record:

And that spirit is what’s guided this country for more than two centuries -- that idea that we’re in this together.  It’s carried us through the trials and tribulations of the last 200-something years, but also the last four years.  In 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  And today, our businesses have created nearly 5.5 million new jobs; and this morning, we learned that companies hired more workers in October than at any time in the last eight months.  (Applause.)

The American auto industry is back on top.  (Applause.)  Home values and housing construction is on the rise.  We’re less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in 20 years.  Because of the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in Iraq is over.  The war in Afghanistan is ending.  Al Qaeda has been decimated.  Osama bin Laden is dead.  (Applause.)  We have made real progress.  (Applause.)

Distinguishing his vision of the future from his opponent's:

But we also believe in this country that people succeed, people start businesses, people work well in businesses when they’ve got a decent education, when they get a chance to learn new skills, when we support research into medical breakthroughs or new technologies.

We think America is stronger when we can count on affordable health care, and Medicare and Social Security; when there are rules to protect our kids from toxic dumping and mercury pollution.  (Applause.)  We think the market works better when consumers are protected from unscrupulous practices in the credit card industry, or from mortgage lenders.

And we believe that no politician in Washington should control health care choices that women can make for themselves.  These are the things we believe.  (Applause.)

That last line--dealing with women's health care choices--brought by far the loudest reaction from the audience. [As a note, I've done at least 250 photoshops about this election. You can tell which photoshops get the most views on the photo-hosting service. My photoshops dealing with women's issues have 10x more views compared to any other subject. Ten Times. Women are invested.] Finally, here's the President blunting his opponent's last-ditch appeal about "Change":

So we know what the right choice is.  But let’s face it, Governor Romney, he’s a very talented salesman.  In this campaign he’s tried as hard as he can to repackage these same policies and offer them up as change.

But we know what change looks like, and what the Governor is offering ain’t it.  Giving more power back to the biggest banks -- that's not change.  Another $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthy -- that's not change.  Refusing to answer questions about the details of your policies until after the election -- that's not change.  We’ve seen that before.  (Laughter and applause.)  Right?  We’ve seen that before.

Ruling out compromise by pledging to rubber-stamp the tea party’s agenda in Congress -- that's not change.  And, by the way, when you try to change the facts just because they're inconvenient to your campaign, that's definitely not change.  (Applause.)

Trying to massage the facts -- that's not change.  That's just -- (laughter.)  Look, we’ve been seeing this out of Governor Romney and his friends over the last few weeks right here in Ohio.  You’ve got folks who work at the Jeep plant who have been calling their employers worried, asking is it true, are our jobs being shipped to China?  And the reason they're making these calls is because Governor Romney has been running an ad that says so -- except it’s not true.  Everybody knows it’s not true.  The car companies themselves have told Governor Romney to knock it off.  GM said, we think creating jobs in the United States should be a source of bipartisan pride.  And I couldn’t agree more.  (Applause.)

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

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