LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Both Bush and Obama received 51 percent of the vote in Ohio in 2004 and 2008. Many believe that the one true swing county is Hamilton, which both men won.

Just as vital are the margins. Obama won the Democratic-leaning Cuyahoga and Lucas counties by wider margins than Kerry did. Bush was able to minimize his losses in these two counties.

In order for Obama to win the presidency, it's about winning his counties by 2008 margins. For Romney, it's about losing them by 2004 margins. What made Obama's margins so impressive in the last election was the fact there were fewer voters in Cuyahoga and Lucas. It's said that Ohio defies gravity for Democrats.

In every other swing state, Obama is counting on new voters, population growth, particularly among Hispanics. "Ohio is a state that is getting older and smaller; does it also mean it gets whiter? On paper, it should be a state that actually moves away from the Democrats over the next few years, just like Missouri, and yet, it hasn't," the NBC News Political Unit writes.

President Obama, on the first leg of his 48-hour swing across the country which took him to Iowa, Colorado, and Nevada, said in a recent interview that "I think that, you know, we always knew this was gonna be a close race from the start. And what we have right now is a lead that we've maintained throughout this campaign. And we are gonna just continue to drive home the message that there are two fundamentally different choices in this election about where we take the country."

In regards to his new pamphlet laying out his second-term agenda, the president said "This is exactly what I laid out at my convention.  Every point that's in there is what we said when I accepted the Democratic nomination. And it's been on our website for weeks."

In regards to Romney, Obama quipped "I think if you look at George Bush and John Kerry or George Bush and Al Gore or first President Bush and Bill Clinton, I don't think-- anybody would say that while you were in the middle of a campaign that you felt deep affection for the other guy."

Romney campaigning in Nevada and Iowa declared that "This is a defining election - defining for the nation but also defining for your family." Speaking to a crowd of 2,300 supporters, Romney said "I say that because it will make a difference, this election will. A difference for the nation, a difference for the families of the nation and a difference for your own family.

"We are going to win, by the way," Romney added.

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