Biden's Parting Message To Ohio: Mitt Romney Has No Character

Biden's Parting Message To Ohio: Mitt Romney Has No Character

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- On the first of his three campaign stops in Ohio on Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden told voters that, in the end, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lacks a fundamental quality required of any president: character.

Character is the "minimum entry fee" for being president, Biden said to about 1,200 people packed into the Lakewood High School gym. "It's clear who has it and clear who doesn't. My guy Barack Obama has character."

The character hit isn't new; Biden has been making it the final punch in his speeches over the last few weeks and tying it to Romney's 47 percent comment, his changing positions on issues and his debunked Jeep ad that has been airing in Ohio. But Sunday's speech was a more direct attack.

Obama "says what he means and means what he says, and he does what he says he's going to do. And that cannot be said of Gov. Romney," Biden said to wild cheers.

He accused Romney of being prepared to "say anything to win" the election, accusing him and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan of being "desperate," "shameless" and of "trying to play a con game here at the end."

Biden is holding two more events in Ohio -- one in Fremont, one in Lancaster -- later Sunday.

-- Jennifer Bendery