i'm danielle noddingham. i'll have the story coming up. >>> taking president obama and mitt romney to the house. it is the first time that they have appeared in the same state on the same day. >> telling them that there is a big approach to the economy and that it is not working. but they would take the country backwards. we've got more from the white house. >> reporter: president obama and his republican challenger, mitt romney, went head to head on the economy in different quarters of the same battleground state. >> it is great to be back in cleveland. >> reporter: at the community college outside cleveland, president obama presented himself as a defender of the middle class. >> if you believe that this economy will be growing up best, when everybody will get a fair shot. and then i will ask you to stand with me as the second term is present. >> reporter: pushing back against weeks of dismal economic news, the president argues that this is a choice between moving the country on forward and his opponent of t