Ex-president Bill Clinton joins Obama campaign for final push

PanARMENIAN.Net - President Barack Obama and Bill Clinton will campaign together next week in three of the most competitive battleground states, Belfast Telegraph said.

Mr Obama and the former president will hold rallies on Monday in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Their appearances will kick off the final full week of campaigning before Election Day.

While Mr Clinton has been an active supporter of the president, Mr Obama's campaign is ramping up his role in the election's final days.

Mr Clinton is featured in a new campaign advertisement out this week, where he argues that Mr Obama's "got it right" with his economic agenda.

Monday's stops will be the first joint rallies the two presidents have held together during the 2012 campaign.

They have previously attended joint fundraisers and appeared together briefly at the Democratic Party's convention.

Republican challenger Mitt Romney has a two point lead over Mr Obama just 12 days before Election Day, a new Associated Press-GfK poll shows.

Mr Romney is favoured by 47% of likely voters to 45% for Mr Obama.

The poll shows Mr Obama has ceded his 16-point advantage among women, while largely erasing Mr Romney's edge among men. The tight results among likely voters fall within the poll's margin of sampling error.

Mr Obama's dip in support among women appeared to reflect a drive by Mr Romney in October to show himself as a more moderate candidate after months of campaigning as a hard-right conservative. Mr Romney's gains also showed his economic argument has made progress with women as he has sought to soften his image. A month ago, women favoured the president over his challenger on the economy 56% to 40%. Now, the split has shifted to 49% for Mr Romney and 45% for Mr Obama.