The ground game in Ohio

The ground game in Ohio.

With less than a week left before the U.S. presidential election, the fight is on in Ohio one step at a time.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney have blanketed the state that both sides view as key to the White House.

SCOTT JENNINGS, THE OHIO STATE DIRECTOR FOR THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN is optimistic.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SCOTT JENNINGS, THE OHIO STATE DIRECTOR FOR THE ROMNEY CAMPAIGN, SAYING:

"Certainly the polls have tightened up here. We see it as a dead heat race and we see us with the momentum. So, it is more than just the fact that it is a dead heat today. We see Romney with the momentum. I always say public opinion is not an event; it is a process and over the last few weeks the process has been working itself out in Mitt Romney's favor."

The Obama campaign is out in force, stopping at universities and colleges -- attracting some of the first time voters that were key to his 2008 victory.

In some of the small towns in Ohio a mixed verdict.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SHIRLEY BOLYARD, A RESIDENT OF OAKFIELD, SAYING:

"I'm just hoping Mitt Romney can make a change that Obama couldn't"

For some it comes down to personality.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) L.R. FAIRES, A RESIDENT OF GLOUSTER, SAYING:

"He's the type of guy I could sit down with at a bar and have a beer with and enjoy a conversation with. And, as big as he is, being the president, he would take what I have to say. He would ingest and think about it. I don't know that somebody like Romney would do that.

More than a million people in Ohio have already cast their vote, over one-fifth of the people who voted in the 2008 presidential election.