OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN: Five more days

By Emily Goodin, Cameron Joseph, Alexandra Jaffe and Justin Sink - 11/01/12 06:05 PM ET

TOP STORY: The gloves are off

President Obama and Mitt Romney returned to the traditional, aggressive, all-out campaign mode on Wednesday — just five days before the election.

Both men had taken a pause in the rough-and-tumble politics in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Obama started his day with a more bipartisan tone, but that didn't last past his first campaign stop. While campaigning in Las Vegas Thursday afternoon, Obama referred to Romney as a “salesman” who is trying to peddle himself as a candidate of change.

Meanwhile, Romney offered a full-throated attack of Obama and his economic policies, telling supporters in Virginia that "if the president were to be reelected, we're going to see high levels of unemployment continue." He also slammed Obama's suggestion for a "secretary of Business."

“We don’t need a secretary of Business to understand business. We need a president who understands business," Romney said. "I don't think adding a new chair in his Cabinet will help add millions of dollars on Main Street."

TOMORROW’S AGENDA TODAY: President Obama will be campaigning in Ohio with stops in Hilliard, Springfield and Lima.

Mitt Romney, Ann Romney, Paul Ryan, and Janna Ryan will attend a campaign rally in Ohio, where they will be joined by nearly 100 governors, senators, mayors and more. The rally, which begins at 7:30 p.m., includes a musical performance by Kid Rock.

Earlier in the day, Romney will be campaigning in West Allis, Wis., with an event at 9:55 a.m., and in Etna, Ohio, at 2:45 p.m.

Vice President Biden will be campaigning in Wisconsin, with stops in Beloit at 11:15 a.m. and in Superior at 3 p.m.

Ryan will hold a campaign rally in Montrose, Colo., at 10:30 a.m. and at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, at 3:15 p.m.

Michelle Obama will be campaigning in Virginia, with a stop in Hampton at 2:45 p.m. and one in Petersburg at 5:25 p.m.

Jill Biden will be campaigning in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Former President Clinton will be campaigning for Obama in Florida, with stops in Fort Myers, Palm Beach, Palm Bay, St. Petersburg and Tallahassee.

POLL POSITION:

President Obama has pulled even with Mitt Romney in the closely watched RealClearPolitics average of national polls. Obama and Romney are tied at 47.4 percent support, according to the RCP average on Thursday.

A Fox News poll released late Wednesday shows Obama and Romney both receiving support from 46 percent of likely voters.

Here is the latest round of swing state polls:

Wisconsin Obama 49 Romney 46 NBC News/Wall Street Journal

Wisconsin Obama 49 Romney 49 Rasmussen

Iowa Obama 50 Romney 46 NBC News/Wall Street Journal

New Hampshire Obama 49 Romney 47 NBC News/Wall Street Journal

Colorado Romney 50 Obama 47 Rasmussen

Iowa Romney 49 Obama 48 Rasmussen

Colorado Obama 50 Romney 48 CNN-ORC

Ohio Romney 49 Obama 46 Republican group Citizens United

Wisconsin Obama 49 Romney 47 Republican group Citizens United

In Michigan, Obama leads Romney 48 percent to 42 in a new poll that finds the auto bailout is a major factor for the state's voters. Fifty percent of respondents in the new poll from the Detroit Free Press said the auto bailout was a deciding factor in their vote.

AD WATCH:

President Obama is hitting Mitt Romney for his opposition to the $80 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry in the first ad his campaign is airing in Michigan.

Obama's campaign debuted a television ad touting the endorsement of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

An unannounced Spanish-language television commercial from the Romney campaign looks to tie Obama to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

A television ad from the Romney campaign seized on Obama's suggestion to create a "secretary of Business" to argue that the president's "solution to everything is to add another bureaucrat."

BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE:

NEBRASKA: House Majority PAC is increasing its spending against Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) to keep its ad in Nebraska's 2nd District on air through Election Day. The decision to increase the buy to $75,000 — which a spokesman for the political action committee said is significant in the Omaha-area district — comes as a recent poll showed Democrat John Ewing halving Terry's lead.

NEW YORK: A bevy of new Siena polls gave mixed news for the parties, showing Democratic Rep. Louise Slaughter ahead of challenger Maggie Brooks by 10 points, but Rep. Michael Grimm (R) expanding his lead over Mark Murphy to 18 points and Republican Matt Doheny gaining on Rep. Bill Owens (D), who now leads the challenger by only 2 percentage points.

SENATE SHOWDOWN:

ARIZONA: Majority PAC released a new ad in the Arizona Senate race slamming Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) for his record on veterans' issues, while touting Democrat Richard Carmona's military experience.

MASSACHUSETTS: Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) began his "People Over Party" bus tour of the state on Thursday and launched two new radio ads: one that essentially provides the audio track from his closing ad, which features clips from speeches he's given talking about his independence, and the other featuring former Democratic Boston Mayor Ray Flynn vouching for Brown's character. Democrat Elizabeth Warren released her own radio ad, slamming Brown for declining to reschedule their final debate and accusing him of running from his record.

MISSOURI: Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) launched a new ad in his bid for the Senate featuring two women offering their support for him: a Russian emigrant and a woman who was raped and had an abortion.

MONTANA: A hotly anticipated report issued late Wednesday by a Montana court on its investigation of a 2009 boating accident that badly injured Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) offered little new information on the incident. Democrats had privately hoped for months that the report would prove politically costly to Rehberg, but little in the report is new, and it did not include any statements from the congressman.

NEBRASKA: Former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel endorsed Democrat Bob Kerrey in his bid for Nebraska Senate on Thursday, adding a marquee name to the list of Republicans backing Kerrey.

VIRGINIA: Former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) has loaned his campaign $500,000 for the final days of his Senate campaign. Allen is out with his final ad of the campaign, ripping former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) on coal and his support for climate change legislation.

WISCONSIN: Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) remain in a tight Senate race, according to three new polls. An NBC poll has Baldwin up by 1 point, a poll for St. Norbert College and Wisconsin Public Radio had Thompson up by 3 points, and a poll for the GOP outside group Citizens United had Thompson up by 2 points. The race is one of the closest in the country.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) endorsed President Obama for reelection, citing his stance on climate change. "Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be — given this week’s devastation — should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action," Bloomberg wrote in his endorsement, which was published on Bloomberg News's website under the title "A Vote for a President to Lead on Climate Change." The announcement, which hit five days before the election came as a surprise. Bloomberg has been critical of both Obama and Mitt Romney.

Romney will campaign in Pennsylvania on Sunday, the first time he's campaigned in the state in many weeks, a Romney campaign official tells The Hill.

A protester who yelled, “Climate change caused Sandy” briefly disrupted a Romney rally. The man was tossed out of the event outside Richmond, while the pro-Romney crowd chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

Stevie Wonder, Marc Anthony and Gabrielle Union gave Michelle Obama a boost on the campaign trail in Florida.

Ann Romney said Thursday is an "emotional day" for her because it is her last day on the campaign trail by herself. "This is my last day doing my campaigning on my own," she said at a victory rally for Mitt Romney in Columbus, Ohio. "I have been on the road a lot on my own."

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka predicted Obama would win Ohio's 18 electoral votes, an outcome that many observers say could make him a near-lock for reelection. “I think the president wins that state by three, maybe four points overall,” Trumka said. “I think he brings home Ohio.”

Donald Trump blasted Obama for not taking up his offer to release his college records, saying the president’s failure to do so was hard evidence he wasn’t born in the U.S.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a gay-rights group, has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate an onslaught of anti-Obama text messages.

The American Future Fund, a Republican outside group, is launching a $5 million ad blitz for the closing days of the campaign that includes $3.6 million for Michigan and Pennsylvania, two states that have not been the main focus of the presidential campaigns.