(NBC) - GOP Vice Presidential hopeful Paul Ryan went to Virginia and North Carolina Wednesday, trying to get the campaign focus back on the economy.
His selection didn't produce the bump in the polls the Romney campaign had hoped for, and the recent flurry of bad press over Missouri Congressman Todd Akin's rape comments haven't helped either.
Akin is still standing, refusing calls from Mitt Romney and other Republican leaders to to quit the Missouri Senate race.
He's casting himself as an anti-abortion hero after apologizing for claiming "legitimate" rape victims can't get pregnant.
"I don't apologize for the fact that I am strong in my belief of pro-life," he said on the Today Show.
Republicans leaders don't want abortion competing with Romney's economic message, and want Akin out of the headlines as quickly as possible.
President Obama, meanwhile, met with teachers in Nevada.
He leads 48 to 44% in the NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll, and he's ten points ahead in voter likeability.