KRGV.com

EDITORS:

We'd like to call your attention to these top political stories, photos and multimedia, for immediate use.

TEXT

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

CINCINNATI President Barack Obama, wrapping up a battleground state blitz, seeks to shore up support among women by pressuring Mitt Romney to break ties with a Republican ally who made controversial rape comments. Romney ignores the issue, holding to an optimistic tone as he tries to carve out a pathway to victory in crucial Ohio. By Julie Pace and Steve Peoples.

CAMPAIGN MONEY

WASHINGTON The cost of electing the president is about to pass $2 billion, a once-unimaginable threshold that's being surpassed with money poured into the race from billionaires, corporations and others now permitted to effectively give unlimited and anonymous contributions. Campaign groups are filing their final pre-election financial statements. By Jack Gillum.

AP POLL-PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

WASHINGTON Americans are growing increasingly optimistic about the future of the U.S. economy, and likely voters trust Mitt Romney slightly more than Barack Obama to do a better job of managing it, an Associated Press-GfK poll shows. By Nancy Benac and Jennifer Agiesta.

OBAMA A look at Obama's bleary-eyed 40-hour blitz across America a sign of how his final campaign will look and feel through Nov. 6.

PHOTOS

VASH109, Supporters chant "four more years" as President Barack Obama smiles during a campaign rally in Byrd Park in Richmond, Va.

VAPM193, An unidentified supporter gives Obama a "thumbs up" at a campaign event in Richmond, Va.

OHCD110, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shakes hands with supporters as he campaigns at Jet Machine, which supplies components for the defense, aerospace, and oil and gas industry Thursday in Cincinnati.

OHCD111, Romney is seen through industrial components placed on the stage as he speaks at a campaign event at Jet Machine in Cincinnati.

MULTIMEDIA

An AP interactive, updated daily with campaign events, is available at /2012/election-2012/.

An HTML gallery of photos taken on the campaign trail by AP photographers using the popular Instagram photo-sharing tool is now available at /2012/instagram-campaign-trail/

The AP