Obama, Romney give dueling economic speeches (VIDEO)

President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney gave competing speeches on the economy in Ohio, one of the key battleground states in the upcoming elections, according to the Associated Press.

Speaking in Cincinnati, Romney said, "Don't forget, he's been president for three and a half years. And talk is cheap. Actions speak very loud." He continued, "If you want to see the results of his economic policy, look around Ohio, look around the country," according to the AP.

Romney argued that Obama's policies had made it more difficult for entrepreneurs and businesses to expand and hire, according to Bloomberg.

He said, "More likely, he’s going to say, ‘Give me four more years, even though I didn’t get it done the first three and a half," according to Politico.

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Obama, speaking in Cleveland, told voters that it was up to them to break the "stalemate in Washington" in November, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Obama framed the election as a chance for voters to "render a verdict on the debate over how to grow the economy, how to create good jobs, how to pay down our deficit." He said that if voters genuinely wanted the policies of the last decade again, they should vote for Romney.

The president's speech follows a politically bruising few weeks with disappointing job reports, Gov. Scott Walker's win in the Wisconsin recall and Obama's gaffe on Friday when he said the private sector was "doing fine," according to MSNBC.

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Obama said, "Your vote will finally determine the path we take as a nation. Everything else is just noise, everything else is just a distraction," according to ABC News.

Ohio holds 18 electoral votes and a presidential candidate needs 270 to win, according to the AP. Obama won the state at 52 percent to John McCain's 47 percent in 2008, while George W. Bush carried it at 51 percent to John Kerry's 49 percent in 2004.

Here is a clip from Obama's speech, courtesy of The Washington Post: