Biden clings to final jobs report heading into Election Day
1:30 AM, Apr. 27, 2013
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Ahead of Tuesday’s voting, President Barack Obama and his Democratic challenger Mitt Romney were holding their final news conference of the campaign Tuesday.
While Romney’s campaign was focused on the economy as he tries to pull off a rebound, Obama’s campaign was focused on jobs as the race for the White House enters a final week.
Here’s a quick look at where it stands right now:
Jobs:
Obama: “I think we’ve finally put this [economic recovery] together, and all of those gains are going to last for a while,” Obama said, referring to the $611 billion in government spending and $632 billion in private sector spending that he added to the nation’s collective recovery plan in September. “So I’m confident that we will grow this economy back, and we will make sure that all of those Americans who are out there working their butts off and who are anxious to get a good job because there are… very few good jobs out there in the private sector.”
Romney: “I think we have to make it clear to the American people and to that small group that are… trying to tell me that they think I’m not doing enough to deal with the challenges we face here in this country,” Romney said in reference to the unemployed who have watched his campaign ad nauseam.
In a later exchange, Romney took umbrage with Obama’s assertion that the U.S. has made it through “this recession,” calling it a “blunt term” that ignores the “unemployment rate.”
Biden: “I have heard a great deal about how this candidate has not said ‘yes’ to all the challenges facing our country,” Biden said, prompting a quick rebuttal, “No, he hasn’t.”… “I mean, it’s not, it’s just a fact,” Biden continued. “The unemployment rate