WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he understands the struggles of working families and has the know-how to fix them as he sought to counteract fallout from a secret video that President Barack Obama won’t let him live down.

With polls showing the president ahead in key swing states that will decide the race, the White House expressed confidence. “As time progresses, you know, the field is looking like it’s narrowing for them,” campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters aboard Air Force One. “And so in that sense we’d rather be us than them.”

Obama was stopping at two college campuses in the hunt for the state’s 18 electoral votes, while Romney was here for a second straight day on a bus emblazoned with, “More Jobs, More Take-Home Pay.” Losing the state would dramatically narrow Romney’s path to the 270 Electoral College votes it takes to win the White House – and no Republican has ever lost Ohio and won the presidency.