Final hours of 2012 campaigns are vital in Ohio

>> good to have you with us tonight. folks, thanks for watching. the days are racing by and time is running out. mitt romney needs something short of a miracle in the worst way. romney went to clooeflds today to project strength. in the choice of the american people can lead to one of two very different destinations. if the president were to be reelected -- [ booing ]

>> it's possible, but not likely.

>> romney 's running mate paul ryan is trying to complete a hale mary pass in wisconsin. he was tailgating with packer fans today at lambeau field . then it was off to ohio as well.

>> two more days. just two more days. two more days. this is one of those elections we will think back at and look at for years.

>> the national polling average has president obama on top by just half a point. romney isn't as close in the states where the election is going to be decided. in paul rooip's home state of wisconsin , the president leads by an average of more than four points. president obama has kept a stead zi two-point lead in nearby iowa . in ohio the president's lead has not diminished in recent weeks. the obama campaign isn't leaving anything for chance in the buckeye state . he also sate down with my colleague, chris matthews .

>> what do you think is going to happen?

>> i think we're going to win clearly. i think we're going to win this state , ohio . i've been here 23, 24 days, something like that. i think we're going to win iowa , we're going to win wisconsin. we're going to win informed. we're going to win new hampshire . we have an even chance of winning virginia and florida . it could be a big win. don't just vote. knock on the door of the neighbors. the middle class depends on it. it literally depends on it.

>> the vice president took on his latest lie.

>> scared the heck out of these people. and it's flat false. this is the most cynical play. there's an editorial in the denver post saying this goes to character. it's not just a lie. but it goes to character.

>> most of the attention is on ohio , a record breaking crowd gathered in concord, new hampshire . president obama was joined by one of the best retail politicians in the business, former president bill clinton .

>> 20 years and nine months ago new hampshire began the chance for me to become president. i have worked very hard in this campaign. [ cheering ] i worked hard in the last one, too. i did 40 events for the president. hillary did 70. but i want you to know something. i'm much more enthusiastic now than i was then.

>> as the campaign gets down to the final hours president obama wants his supporters to know he hasn't lost any of his drive.

>> new hampshire , i'm here today because i'm not ready to give up on the fight. i know i look a little older, but i have a lot of fight left in me. i am not ready to give up on the fight, and i hope you aren't either, new hampshire .

>> the obama campaign has the latest poll number on the sides. the best way for mitt romney to squeeze out a victory is if people don't vote. keep in mind, ohio republican secretary of state has cut back early voting hours. rick scott cut the number of early voting from 14 doing to 8. giving us lines that look like this. one polling place in miami- dade county shut down temporarily because workers could not meet the demand. every vote will be important in the election. one side seems intent on making sure not everyone gets to vote. get your cell phones out. we want to know what you think tonight. can voter suppression win for mitt romney ? text "a" for yes or "b" for no. joining me tonight, first is ben levolt, national press secretary for the 2012 campaign. very bold prediction tonight by the vice president in his interview with my colleague, chris matthews . do you believe the electoral college is not going to be that close? is the obama team that confident tonight?

>> at the end of the day it all comes down to turnout. in a state like nevada, more than 70% will vote by election day we have a 70,000 vote lead there. we have more than 100,000 vote advantage in the bank at this time. we signed up more than 6,600 volunteer shifts for the get out the vote program. it all comes down to turnout in the final hours.

>> well, you have the turnout, it looks like. if these early voting hours have been cut, how much concern is that to you?

>> well, we have a voter protection team on the ground and right here in chicago that took quick action in florida yesterday. miami-dade and palm beach announced early voting tomorrow. so we're going to make sure that everybody's vote counts. if you're in line, stay in line. we're going to make sure it happens through the final hours.

>> the romney campaign says it has numbers showing that they're going to win ohio . is that a bluff?

>> well, i think we heard a lot of bluffing from the romney campaign for days that says they have an intensity advantage on their side. look no further than the fact that mitt romney spent the day in the state of pennsylvania . he's desperately searching for a new pass to 270. he's not comfortable with his position in ohio . if he was, he wouldn't be lying to auto workers across the state , saying that their jobs are going to be shipped overseas. they know they're down in ohio . they're desperately searching for a new pass.

>> all right. ben, good to have you with us tonight. thank you so much. let's turn to richard wolffe , msnbc political analyst and vice president executive editor of msnbc.com. jonathan alter also with us tonight. msnbc political analyst . gentlemen, great to have you with us. richard, you first. the romney campaign is selling hard that they have got a path to victory even through ohio . your reaction?

>> well, you can poll all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time. at some time the wheels fall off. it wasn't in play for bush in 2004 . it's not going to be in play now. and the numbers that you're seeing in the early votes, they may not hold up in the sense the republicans think they'll have a better turnout on the the day. but it says a lot about the ground game that chicago has been talking about for a long time. it's what they built in iowa back in 2007 . the clinton folks didn't bloef it then.

>> jonathan alter , you've been on the ground in iowa in the last 24 hours . enthusiasm, who has it?

>> i think they both have it. i agree pennsylvania is a bluff. but ohio is close. and it is within the margin of error. and the republicans in the rural conservative counties have pretty good organization. the evangelicals will come out strong for romney . so obama has a lot of advantages it's one of the area where is people are switching to obama rather than away. but there are some other demographic groups where there has been some slippage for obama . and i think this one is really genuinely going down to the wire.

>> well, cuyahoga county . there are 12,000 votes off of early voting from where they were in 2008 . now if that's a micro kochl for the state , what does it mean?

>> well, early voting favored obama and ohio in 2008 . mccain won the state on election day . obama carried the state comfortable bli, but not on election someday.

>> here is romney today in iowa talking about people getting handouts.

>> paul and i have not promised you a bigger check from the government. and we haven't promised to take from some people to redistribute to you.

>> your response. is this another last ditch effort to appeal to sentiment?

>> at this point even a dog whistle doesn't breakthrough. there's too much white noise out there. what matters at this point is the ground game. it's can you find the right people? the republican playbook is they have the intensity. there are enough people who hate the president that they will show up anyway. you're seeing two very different philosophies of how you get people to go out and vote. the obama campaign is trying to find the actual individual to vote. you still have to have people go out and vote. this is a long way from being over. but if you have the organization, the bet is, and they showed it before in 2008 , the bet is you can go out and get the votes.

>> i sense more confidence in ohio than you, jonathan.

>> there's two dozen battleground polls in the state . in all of them romney hasn't come up ahead.

>> i'm not being pessimistic about ohio , i'm just being cautious. it's true the polls get more accurate the closer you get to an election. they're not accurate at all a year or two out or even a month or two out. at this point the track record is pretty good. i was talking to identical twins in perry, ohio , yesterday. they were working for obama in lake county , ohio , in 2008 . they say the organization is significantly better this year than 2000 .

>> the pugh research poll came out, romney had a 19-point advantage. now it's down to nine. medicare, is that story breaking for the obama team? richard?

>> well, those pew numbers are -- first of all, i think you've seen the one last ship in the campaign with the president's response to the hurricane that affected voters across the demographic. even into the romney campaign.

>> romney right now is polling as the favorite. i'm not sure the medicare message cut that deeply.

>> okay. richard wolffe , jonathan, great to have you gentlemen with us. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts with us on twitter and on facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, the lines are long but the voters aren't backing down. why florida 's governor is refusing to help out. this is the ed show live from democracy plaza. we're coming right back. stay with us.