Submitted by Fox First at Ten on November 4th
By MATTHEW DALYAssociated Press
LAKEWOOD, Ohio (AP) - It wasn't quite a guarantee, but Vice President Joe Biden predicted Sunday that he and President Barack Obama will win re-election - "and I don't think it's going to be close in the Electoral College."
Biden, who campaigned throughout Ohio on Sunday, told host Chris Matthews of MSNBC that he and Obama would win Ohio, perhaps the most critical battleground in the closely fought election.
"I think the firewall here of Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa - I think it's going to hold firm," he said. "I think we're going to win clearly."
Biden also predicted Democratic wins in Nevada and New Hampshire, two other battleground states, and said Democrats have "an even chance" of winning Virginia and Florida.
Earlier, Biden said Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, are running a "con game" on voters, trying to fool them into thinking the Republican ticket is more moderate than it is.
Biden, campaigning in Lakewood, Ohio, cited Romney's changing positions on tax cuts, Iraq and other issues. He told a crowd of 1,200 people at Lakewood High School outside Cleveland that a GOP ad claiming that automaker Jeep will move jobs out of Ohio was "pernicious" and a sign Romney does not have the character to be president.
Biden said the ad was intended to scare auto workers in Ohio, where one out of eight jobs is related to the auto industry.
"It's the most cynical play I've seen," he told Matthews in an interview taped in Lakewood. "It's not just a lie, but it goes to character. They don't have much character at all."
By contrast, Biden said Obama "does not engage in deception. He says what he means and means what he says."
Average people don't expect government to solve their problems, Biden said, but do expect government to "understand" their struggles.
Biden said he is encouraged by the bipartisan response to Hurricane Sandy and said that if he and Obama are re-elected, they will work with Republicans in Congress to solve the country's fiscal problems and other issues.
"Look, I think the fever will have broken" by the election, he said. "There's still some solid Republican conservatives who understand what principled compromise means and they're not wrapped up in ideological purity."
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