Mitt Romney seized Friday on Vice President Joe Biden's characterization of the administration's handling of last month's terrorist attack in Libya, accusing the administration of contradicting itself and "doubling down on denial."

The Republican presidential nominee praised the performance of his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, at an early afternoon rally in Virginia, Romney's first since last night's vice presidential debate.

Steve Helber / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney waves to the crowd as he arrives for a rally in Richmond, Va., Friday, Oct. 12, 2012.

Republicans have homed in, though, upon Biden's explanation last night of the Obama administration's handling of the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

The vice president said "we did not know" that the post in Benghazi had asked for more security that day, the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. But that assertion differs from the testimony of State Department officials, who told lawmakers this week that they had, in fact, asked for increased security resources.

On Friday, Romney pounced.

"The vice president directly contradicted the sworn testimony of State Department officials," Romney said at a rally in Richmond, Va. "He's doubling down on denial."

Related: Biden plays aggressor in debate as Ryan argues GOP case

The Republican ticket has sought to turn the incident in Benghazi into an opportunity to distinguish itself from President Barack Obama on matters of foreign policy. Obama has led Romney on most issues of foreign policy and national security in the polls, though the GOP nominee has been able to gain traction on Libya due to some of the administration's own missteps.

The Obama administration, for instance, had initially maintained that the attack in Libya was the spontaneous outgrowth of protests related to an American video that portrayed Islam in an unflattering manner. But that explanation shifted in the weeks following the attack, and the administration eventually acknowledged that the mission in Libya was the target of a coordinated terrorist attack.

"As they learned more facts about exactly what happened, they changed their assessment," Biden explained of the evolving explanation during last night's debate.

The vice president also accused Romney of reacting haphazardly in the immediate aftermath of the attack, when the Republican nominee appeared on-camera hours after Stevens's death to accuse the administration of sympathizing with the attackers and apologizing for American values by way of condemning the video on Islam.

"Gov. Romney, before he knew the facts, before he even knew that our ambassador was killed, he was out making a political statement which was panned by the media around the world," Biden argued yesterday evening.

Related: Ryan wades deep into lengthy Afghanistan argument

But the Obama campaign's deputy manager, Stephanie Cutter, also invited Republican attacks -- including an indirect reference from Ryan during last night's debate -- for telling CNN that Romney and Ryan were to blame for turning the Libya incident into a political hot potato.

Romney, at his Virginia rally today, argued that voters are entitled to answers.

"We need to understand exactly what happened as opposed to just have people brush this aside," the Republican nominee argued. "When the vice president of the United States directly contradicts the testimony -- sworn testimony -- of State Department officials, American citizens have a right to know just what's going on. And we're going to find out. And this is the time for us to make sure we do find out."

Romney otherwise lionized his running mate for his debate performance, describing Ryan as "thoughtful and respectful and steady and poised" versus Biden's more visible mannerisms and aggressive style of debating.

A week after President Barack Obama’s lackluster debate performance, Republican challenger Mitt Romney has made some gains in three key swing states among those most likely to vote, according to the latest round of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.

Romney and Obama remain in a virtual tie in Virginia and Florida, and the Democratic incumbent maintains a slight advantage in Ohio.

Romney saw his largest gain in Virginia, where he now edges the president 48 percent to 47 percent, a 3-point reversal from last week’s poll, released the day of the first presidential debate. The spread is within the poll’s margin of error.

NBC News/WSJ/Marist Fl. Poll

NBC News/WSJ/Marist Ohio Poll

NBC News/WSJ/Marist Va. Poll

In Florida, before the debate, it was a 1-point race with Obama leading 47 percent to 46 percent. Now, it is still a 1-point race with Obama leading 48 percent to 47 percent.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

In Ohio, where there has been a renewed focus by the Romney campaign after the former Massachusetts governor’s strong debate performance, Obama leads 51 percent to 45 percent. That’s a 2-point uptick for Romney.

But the Ohio poll also included an 11-point advantage for self-described Democrats --- 40 percent to 29 percent for Republicans. Last week’s poll had a narrower 5-point advantage for Democrats.  . (In 2008, the party identification split was 39 percent Democrat and 31 percent Republican, according to exit polls.)

One factor that may have pulled the party ID more heavily toward Democrats in this poll was early voting. One-in-five respondents (18 percent) said they have already voted, and, of those, almost two-thirds (63 percent) said they voted for Obama.

The ideological makeup in this poll was 22 percent liberal, 32 percent moderate, 46 percent conservative, which is actually less moderate and more conservative than four years ago when it was 20 percent liberal, 45 percent moderate, and just 35 percent conservative, according to the exit poll.

When early voters are taken out of the equation, Obama’s lead shrinks to 48 percent vs. Romney's 46 percent.

"Perhaps the poll is picking up the Obama absentee push,” said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist poll.

“By way of methodology, last week there was no question about absentee voting in the Ohio survey. It had not yet started. … Those who said they voted absentee in the past week, since absentee voting started in Ohio, are overwhelmingly Democratic and they voted for the president by a wide margin. This can account for a difference in party identification among likely voters because last week they would have been ‘likely voters’ and this week because absentee voting had started, they are ‘definite voters.’”

There are signs that Romney’s debate performance had an impact with the narrow slice of persuadable voters.

In all three states, the overwhelming majority of voters said they made up their minds before the debate -- 92 percent in Florida and Ohio, and 91 percent in Virginia. Just 7 percent in Virginia, 6 percent in Florida, and 5 percent in Ohio said they decided after the debate. But in all three states, Romney won them.

“The debate helped Romney but most voters had already picked sides,” Carvalho added.

Slideshow: Twin sons of different parties

From tramping through cornfields to munching ice cream cones to holding babies – the time-honored traditions of the campaign trail leave President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney looking surprisingly alike.

Launch slideshow

Romney also made significant gains with independents in Virginia and Ohio. In Virginia, Romney jumped 7 points with the group -- from a 45 percent to 44 percent statistical tie to a 50 percent to 42 percent lead.

In Ohio, he got an even wider 12-point boost. He was down 47 percent to 43 percent with them. But now, Romney is up 49 percent to 41 percent. In Florida, there was little change.

Romney also improved his image post-debate in all three states, but he’s still viewed more negatively than positively in Ohio.

Romney’s favorable score has jumped to 49 percent in Florida and Virginia, up from 46 percent in Florida and 45 percent in Virginia. In fact, before the debate in Virginia, Romney was viewed more negatively than positively. Now, that’s reversed.

Neither score is as good as the president’s, who continues to enjoy favorable ratings above 50 percent in all three states.

Obama’s approval rating also held steady -- 48 percent in both Florida and Virginia and 47 percent in Ohio.

Obama continues to be bolstered by women. There’s a 13-point gender gap in Florida, and 12-point gaps in Ohio and Virginia.

In the key Senate races, Democrats lead, but the race in Virginia has narrowed back to a tie.

Many observers believe as goes the presidential race in Virginia, so goes the competitive Senate race. And that very well may be the case, as Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican George Allen are once again deadlocked.

Kaine holds the narrowest of advantages, 47 percent to 46 percent. Last week, Kaine led by 5 points, 49 percent to 44 percent.

In Florida, incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson continues to hold a sizable lead over Republican Rep. Connie Mack, 52 percent to 39 percent, about where it was last week.

In Ohio, incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown continues to hold a significant advantage, 52 percent to 41 percent, over Republican challenger Josh Mandel. Last week, Brown led 50 percent to 41 percent.

The polls were conducted from Oct. 7-9 and have a margin of error with likely voters of +/- 3.1 percent.

CHESTER, VA -- Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal came to Mitt Romney's defense today over remarks the Republican presidential nominee made Tuesday, saying he wouldn't seek new anti-abortion legislation as president.

"There's only one pro-life candidate running for president, and that's Governor Romney," Jindal told reporters. 

Tuesday, in an interview with the Des Moines Register's editorial board, Romney said, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda." 

Jindal today went on to rebuff attacks from Democrats, including an Obama campaign conference call this morning pointing to Romney's past support for restrictions on access to abortion.

 "The reality is, its no surprise that President Obama would want to talk about anything but the economy," Jindal said. 

The remarks came after he and McDonnell visited a barbecue restaurant here in Chester, one of three stops today across a wide swath of eastern Virginia as the two men get out the vote for the Republican presidential ticket.

Recommended: Ryan says he feels 'good' about debate versus Biden

McDonnell said that Romney was signaling that his presidential agenda "isn't focusing on social issues." 

"Having read those comments from Governor Romney," McDonnell said of the Register interview, "what he was saying is, his overwhelming priority is going to be creating jobs, getting the economy back on track."

Both McDonnell and Jindal are outspoken on social issues and are fervently anti-abortion -- though when asked today they would not say they were disturbed by Romney's remarks. 

Republicans are likely hoping a strong debate performance by vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan in Thursday's debate against Vice President Joe Biden will shift the conversation.

Speaking to supporters earlier, Jindal -- once a much-speculated about contender for veep himself -- said he didn't want raise expectations for Ryan, with whom he earlier served in Congress.

But Jindal spoke highly of Ryan's chances.  "I don't think its going to be a fair fight," he said.

Pointing to sections of the interview in which Romney cites his support for cutting funding to countries promoting abortion, McDonnell said the "no legislation" remarks are being taken out of context. 

"Governor Romney's pro-life.  Pro-life bills that get to his desk, there's no question in my mind he will sign." McDonnell said.  

"He's pro-life, Obama's pro-choice, and now let's talk about the economy."

NEWPORT NEWS, VA-- Mitt Romney resurrected one of his favorite attack lines against the president's economic stewardship on Monday, hitting President Barack Obama for 43 months of unemployment above eight percent, despite Friday's new data indicating the rate had finally fallen below that well-worn attack.

"We've seen the slowest recovery from a recession in history," Romney told a rain-soaked crowd of 500 supporters here on Monday. "As a matter of fact, I just read that if you look back 60 years, and you look at all the months we had with unemployment about 8 percent before President Obama, there were 39 months in all 60 years with unemployment above 8 percent."

"With this president, there have been 43 months under one president alone," Romney continued. "He does not understand what it takes to create a real recovery. I do."

The remarks came as Romney rushed through his second public appearance of the day, a rally at a park in Newport News, that the campaign chose to begin early and cut short due to a downpour that showed no sign of abating.

Romney gushed over the crowd, who cheered him as he hit on his economic talking points, as well as two of the three more personal anecdotes he began telling this weekend.

“People wonder why it is I’m so confident we’re going to win," Romney said. "I’m confident because I see you here on a day like this. This is unbelievable! Thank you so much! "

ABINGDON, VA -- Mitt Romney downplayed the importance of new, positive jobs data released Friday, telling a crowd of supporters here in rural Virginia the drop in the unemployment rate had more to do with workers dropping out of the labor force than with any real expansion of hiring.

"There were fewer new jobs created this month than last month," Romney said of today's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which showed 114,000 jobs created in September, and revised the August number up to 142,000 new jobs.

Steve Helber / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a rally in Abingdon, Va., Friday, Oct. 5, 2012.

The Republican presidential nominee's tack broke from a now-monthly tradition of seizing on weak employment reports to portray President Barack Obama as ineffective in turning around a struggling US economy, Mitt Romney downplayed the importance of today's more positive labor data,

"The unemployment rate as you noted this year has come down very, very slowly, but it’s come down none the less.  The reason it’s come down this year is primarily due to the fact that more and more people have just stopped looking for work," Romney continued. "If the same share of people were participating in the workforce today as on the day the president got elected, our unemployment rate would be around 11 percent. That’s the real reality of what’s happening out there."

Recommended: Obama uses positive jobs report to make case against Romney

The report from the Bureau of Labor statistics shows workforce participation remained essentially flat in September, at around 64 percent, with an uptick in workers who took part time jobs for economic reasons, such as not being able to get full time employment. Updward-revised jobs numbers from July and August also contributed to the lower jobless rate.

While workforce participation has generally declined over the course of the past four years, workforce participation actually inched upward last month – meaning a drop in those seeking work wasn’t directly attributable to the lower unemployment rate last month.

But if the jobs report itself was a secondary focus in Romney's remarks today, the economy was once again front and center, with Romney telling some 3,300 supporters gathered here that he could grow the economy faster than Obama, and promising brighter economic days ahead.

"My priority is creating jobs," Romney said. "I’ll help small business do that, with everything I can do. Now we can do better. We don’t have to stay on the path we’ve been on. We can do better."

"When I’m president of the United States – that unemployment rate is going to come down not because people are giving up and dropping out of the workforce but because we’re creating more jobs," Romney said later. "I will create jobs and get America working again!" 

The Obama campaign challenged Romney economic plans in a statement released shortly after the event concluded.

"In fact, independent economists say his plans would not create jobs, could slow the recovery, and could actually cost us two million jobs over the next two years. The American people want to move forward, not back,” Obama campaign spokesperson Lis Smith wrote.

President Barack Obama used Friday's new jobs report showing that the unemployment rate had fallen below 8 percent to warn voters in battleground Virginia against electing Mitt Romney as president.

The monthly jobs survey issued this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the economy added 114,000 jobs in September, and that the economy added 86,000 more jobs in July and August than had been initially estimated. Most significantly, the unemployment rate fell from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent last month -- the lowest point since Obama first took office.

"This morning, we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since I took office," the president said at a campaign rally in northern Virginia.

The new economic data was welcome news for Obama, whose performance in Wednesday's presidential debate prompted hand-wringing from Democrats, who said the president wasn't aggressive enough versus Romney. Friday's data offered Obama an opportunity to play offense on the issue of the economy, the No. 1 issue in the election and a topic on which he often plays defense versus Romney.

"Today's news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points. It's a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now," Obama said. "I can't allow that to happen. I won't allow that to happen, and that is why I'm running for a second term as president of the United States."

Recommended: Debate focuses attention on what Social Security 'tweak' might mean for workers

The report was politically significant in that, for the first time, the unemployment rate fell below 8 percent -- an important psychological barrier, especially since Romney has made frequent reference to the tally of months during which the jobless rate has been above that threshold.

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama waves during a campaign event on October 5, 2012 at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Romney has made the anemic economic recovery his primary argument in prosecuting the case against Obama. He said the only reason that the unemployment rate had declined was due to people dropping out of the workforce.

"There were fewer new jobs created this month than last month," Romney said while campaigning Friday in Virginia.

"The reason it's come down this year is primarily due to the fact that more and more people have stopped looking for work," added the Republican presidential hopeful. He argued that while it "looks like unemployement is getting better," the real jobless rate would be closer to 11 percent if the workforce hadn't shrunk during Obama's time in office.

The BLS report was the penultimate monthly update on the U.S. employment situation before the election. The jagged rate of recovery has caused heartburn for Obama in his bid for re-election -- particularly some disappointing reports in the late spring -- offered Romney ammunition to use against the president.

In those months, Obama saw public opinion toward the state of the economy and his management of it sour to a degree in public polling.

It has also been growing confidence in the economy that helped contribute to the president's advantage over Romney in late summer and through September.

Forty-four percent of voters said in the most recent NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll that they believed the economy would improve over the next year, improved from 27 percent of voters who expressed such an opinion in the July edition of the poll.

The Obama campaign has also sought to erode Romney's advantage on the economy with rounds of blistering ads questioning the Republican nominee's experience in private equity, and how Romney manages his own personal wealth.

But Romney still held an edge over Obama in this week's NBC-WSJ poll. Forty-five percent of voters said they thought Romney would better manage the economy, versus 42 percent who said the same of Obama.

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA –- Campaigning at virtually the same time and in the same state as Republican opponent Mitt Romney, President Barack Obama said he wants to use his second term to foster “economic patriotism” in the United States.

Speaking at an outdoor concert pavilion, Obama encouraged voters to believe America could prevail over economic challenges, and, by extension, his own ability to do the same. He used a line first unveiled in a new campaign ad this morning to encompass the sentiment.

"It's time for a new economic patriotism, an economic patriotism rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class," he said.

“The truth is it’s going to take a few more years to solve the challenges that were building up over decades. But I want everybody to understand our problems can be solved. Our challenges will be met,” Obama said, praising the resilience of America’s workers and touting his second-term priorities like boosting exports.

The president also gave a few nods to this military-heavy town, lamenting election-season platitudes about patriotism, saying, “in a campaign season you always hear a lot about patriotism” before introducing his new slogan.

He was also introduced to the audience of 7,000 by outgoing Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a Vietnam veteran and Democrat who gave a passionate endorsement of the president’s military advocacy. 

It’s no surprise that both Obama and Romney converged in Virginia on Thursday -- their ad wars here make it one of the hottest states for political commercials, with four cities among the country’s top ten markets. And there are at least two OFA ads on the air here hitting Romney over his “47 percent” remarks.

Obama has been gaining ground in Virginia lately, with a series of statewide polls suggesting the president leads Romney in this battleground state.

And a new Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation poll on Medicare found Virginia voters said they trusted Obama to deal with the program by a 13-point margin over Romney.

Obama sought to take advantage of his lead on that subject during his remarks Thursday.

“I will never, ever turn Medicare into a voucher. Because no American should have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies,” he said Thursday, drawing a huge cheer from the crowd.

Alex Wong / Getty Images

Republican U.S. presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney speaks during a Veterans for Romney event at American Legion Post 176 September 27, 2012 in Springfield, Virginia.

Updated 3:05 p.m. - SPRINGFIELD, VA -- Mitt Romney seized upon a report revising economic growth in the second quarter downward as his latest piece of evidence in his ongoing effort to cast President Barack Obama's policies as ineffective at boosting the economy.

“We have to have a strong economy. Right now, Russia’s economy is growing at about 4 percent per year. That’s their GDP growth. Ours was just revised last quarter down to 1.3 percent per year -- about a quarter or a fifth the rate of Russia’s," Romney said. "This is a real challenge for us. And this is not just one quarter. This has been going on now for years."

"Our economy needs to be reinvigorated," Romney continued before an audience of some 300 veterans at an American Legion hall in suburban Washington. "And the president has laid out his plan. It’s a continuation of the old plan. We can’t afford four more years of the last four years, all right?”

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Speaking before an audience that is especially attentive to military spending for its impact on the local economy, Romney highlighted the danger posed by planned defense cuts called for in the bipartisan budget deal.

"The White House proposed the sequestration, a kind of gun-to-your-head opportunity, which is if Congress couldn't get the job done properly and the president couldn't lead them, why they would make devastating cuts to our military," Romney said. "The impact will be immediate, and significant right here in Virginia: 136,000 jobs will be lost in Virginia as a result of this move."

For the second day in a row, Romney and Obama squared off in the same critical swing state. Yesterday, they held dueling rallies in Ohio, and as Romney wrapped up his remarks, the president was preparing for his own rally downstate.

The Republican nominee, trailing in most polls of Old Dominion voters, kept his message focused on the few areas where he retains strength, particularly on dealing with the national debt and the deficit, on which he hammered the president again today, while attempting to present the complex problems posed by a burgeoning debt in understandable prose.

"[President Obama's] plan also calls for trillion dollar deficits," Romney said. "Recognize: trillion dollar deficits. That debt is owned by somebody. Someone holds that. That puts America in a position of economic risk, fiscal risk."

"Even with the interest rates real low, we spend more on interest as taxpayers, paying the government debt than we spend on housing agriculture, education and transportation combined," Romney continued. "Its huge! And its going to get a lot bigger. Particularly if every year we add another trillion dollars to the deficit. "

Obama's campaign, which today began airing a new advertisement highlighting Romney's surreptitiously recorded comments at a fundraiser about 47 percent of Americans he said did not pay taxes and thought of themselves as "victims," issued a statement responding to Romney's remarks which seemed designed to draw attention back to the damaging video.

“Mitt Romney would like Virginians to forget how he disdainfully wrote off half of all Americans, including veterans and active duty members, at a fundraiser with high-dollar donors," said spokeswoman Lis Smith. "[Romney's] policies would be disastrous for America’s military, military families, and veterans and we can’t afford them.”

“On the day we learned that American businesses have created 5.1 million private sector jobs over the last 30 months – 453,000 more than originally thought – Mitt Romney’s desperately cherry picking the data to fit his false narrative," added Obama spokesman Danny Kanner. "The truth is that he opposed the President’s jobs proposal, which could still create as many as 1 million additional jobs, and instead proposed plans that independent economists say would slow the recovery and actually cost us nearly a million jobs."

Updated 2:22 p.m. - CHESTERFIELD, VA -- Vice President Joe Biden continued on Tuesday to hammer away at Mitt Romney's secretly-taped riff about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes, ridiculing the GOP presidential nominee as failing to represent all Americans.

"When he said it’s not my job to worry about ‘these people,’ well, whose job is it?" Biden asked of a crowd of about 500 at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are our brother’s keeper, we are one nation under God, we are all in this together,  and if the 47 percent doesn’t make it, the country doesn’t make it."

Biden, who delivered his first salvo about the taped Romney fundraiser comments this weekend in New Hampshire, offered an extended critique of Romney's own level of tax contributions and said that those in the "47 percent" still pay "a lot of taxes" like Social Security, state and local, and property payments.

"Look, instead of attacking folks who work for a living and pay their way, Romney should be respecting their hard work," he said. "That’s the job of a president: to lift people up, not to tear them down."

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

He also noted that Romney has been widely criticized for failing to release more detailed information from his past tax returns and for paying a lower tax rate than many middle class Americans. (However, Romney's most recent release of some 2011 data showed that the former private equity exec limited deductions from his extensive charitable donations and thus paid a higher-than-required effective rate of about 14 percent.)

"He, Romney? Attacking someone on taxes? I mean, woah!" said the famously rhetorically excitable Delaware pol. "That’s like me attacking someone for being passionate in politics!"

The trip to Virginia was Biden's first since the campaign swing when Biden sparked a firestorm after remarking to a largely black audience in Danville that the banking policies supported by Republicans would "put y'all back in chains."

The vice president did not use similar themes today, focusing instead on the Romney-Ryan ticket's reluctance to raise taxes as a way of addressing the federal deficit.

"These guys think compromise is somehow a dirty word," Biden said. "They are insisting and Romney is insisting on putting back in policies that produced the problem in the first place. “

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams responded: "President Obama and Vice President Biden’s reckless policies have increased our national debt by $5.4 trillion and resulted in dangerously high unemployment, increased poverty, and plummeting incomes. This election presents a clear choice between Barack Obama’s vision of a government-centered society and Mitt Romney’s vision of an opportunity society. Governor Romney will spur economic growth and create more wealth, while President Obama believes in redistributing wealth. The Romney plan for a stronger middle class will create 12 million jobs and encourage upward mobility instead of more government dependency."

Carolyn Kaster / AP

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in Woodbridge, Va.

President Barack Obama struck back Friday at Mitt Romney's attempt to cast himself as a candidate of "change" as well as the GOP nominee's surreptitiously-recorded comments at a fundraiser earlier this year.

The president delivered some of his most forceful criticism of Romney at a campaign rally in northern Virginia, seizing on Romney's secretly videotaped remarks that he was not looking to appeal to 47 percent of the country.

“The values we believe in don't just belong to workers or businesses, the 53 percent or the 47 percent, the rich or the poor, the 1 percent, the 99 percent -- these are Americans values. They belong to all of us!” Obama said to a cheering crowd of 12,000 at a minor-league baseball stadium in Woodbridge, Virginia.

Obama also noted as a point of contrast that he happened to lose, as a matter of coincidence, 47 percent of the vote in the 2008 election, but still looked to lead as president those Americans who did not vote for him.

“In 2008 47 percent of the country didn't vote for me. But on the night of the election I said to all those Americans, I may not have won your vote but I hear your voices, I need your help and I will be your president,” he said.

“And for everybody who's watching or anybody here who's still undecided, I don't know how many people are going to vote for me this time around, but I'm telling the American people, I will be fighting for you no matter what,” he continued.

The president also took issue in Woodbridge with Romney’s statement during the fundraiser that that 47 percent of voters, who don’t pay income taxes and may be on government assistance, are “victims.”

“I don't see a lot of victims in this crowd today,” he said. “I see hard-working Virginians.”

Recommended: Obama's battleground advantage grows

Obama also struck back on Romney’s criticism Thursday after Obama, speaking at a Univision town hall that day, said he realized after taking office that “you can’t change Washington from the inside.”

At a rally in Sarasota, Florida, shortly after Obama finished his town hall, Romney retooled his stump speech to include this criticism: “The president today threw in the white flag of surrender again. He said he can’t change Washington from inside, he can only change it from outside. Well, we’re going to give him that chance in November. He’s going outside!”

“I can change Washington, I will change Washington, we’ll get the job done from the inside,” Romney continued.

Friday, Obama turned Romney’s words against him, mocking him for getting “really excited” about the remark and rewriting his speech.

“He stood up at a rally. Proudly declared: I'll get the job done from the inside,” Obama said. “What kind of inside job is he talking about?”

Later, he repeated the charge: “We don't want an inside job in Washington. We want change in Washington!”

Virginia Senate candidate Tim Kaine (D) suggested Thursday that he would be open to considering a minimum tax on Americans.

Kaine, the former governor of Virginia and former Democratic National Committee chairman, said during a debate versus Republican opponent George Allen that he would be open to a minimum tax proposal.

Evan Vucci / AP

Republican candidate George Allen, right, speaks as Democratic candidate Tim Kaine looks on during a Senatorial debate for the Virginia U.S. Senate seat on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 in McLean, Va.

"I would be open to a proposal that would have some minimum tax level for everyone," Kaine said when pressed by debate moderator David Gregory on whether Americans should face a minimum federal income tax. "But I do insist, many of the 47 percent that Gov. Romney was going after pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than he does."

Kaine's remark came during a broader exchange about Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's comments that he couldn't count on about 47 percent of Americans to vote for him because they pay no income taxes and are "dependent" on government. Romney made those comments in May, which were surreptitiously recorded at the time and publicized this week.

Romney's controversial suggestion has become an issue in several competitive Senate races, such as Connecticut and Massachusetts, where Republicans Linda McMahon and Sen. Scott Brown have (respectively) distanced themselves from Romney.

Allen, the former Republican senator who lost his re-election bid in 2006, didn't as sharply distance himself from Romney. "I have my own view," he said about Romney's comments before pivoting to speak about jobs.

The Kaine-Allen race is one of the most competitive in the nation this year; its outcome could foretell control of the Senate in the next Congress. Republicans need to achieve a net gain of four seats to win back the majority in the Senate.

Last week's NBC News/Marist/Wall Street Journal poll of Virginia voters found the Senate race tied, at 46 percent apiece for Kaine and Allen.

Whether Kaine's comments today have any lasting effect will play out in the next days and weeks, though Republican observers of today's debate -- which was organized by NBC-Washington affiliate WRC -- immediately took note of the minimum tax comments.

While the presidential campaign remains the main event of the 2012 election season, a fierce, state-by-state battle is also underway to determine which party will control the U.S. Senate for the next two years.  And a series of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls shows Democrats with an edge in two of the most closely-watched races and tied in a third.

In Ohio and Florida, the Democratic candidate holds a solid lead, while in Virginia – where former governor and onetime DNC chairman Tim Kaine faces former Republican Sen. George Allen in a marquee battle – the candidates are in a dead heat.

Republicans had entered the 2012 cycle with high hopes of winning all three races. All are seats currently held by Democrats, and winning any of them would advance the GOP toward the net gain of four seats they need to take back control of the Senate come January.

In Virginia, Kaine and Allen are deadlocked at 46 percent apiece with likely voters.

In Ohio, incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown leads Republican State Treasurer Josh Mandel 49 percent to 42 percent.

And in Florida, two-term Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, leads GOP Rep. Connie Mack 51 percent to 37 percent. Twelve percent of Florida voters said they were undecided about the race.

With only 54 days until the election, these three polls suggest that Republicans still have work to do if they wish to achieve their goal of retaking control of the Senate. Democrats must defend 23 of the 33 Senate seats on the ballot this fall, a numerical disadvantage that buoyed GOP hopes of reaching their goal early in the cycle, especially since many of the Democratic-held seats are also in hotly contested presidential battlegrounds.

President Barack Obama leads Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in Virginia, Ohio and Florida, according to the same NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls released Thursday.

Each of the Marist polls was conducted Sept. 9-11. Each poll has a 3.1 percent margin of error for its sample of likely voters.