Updated 2:12 p.m. - President Barack Obama's campaign launched a pair of ads in Michigan defending the 2009 auto bailout, ostensibly in response to a pro-Romney super PAC airing ads in the Wolverine State.

The president's campaign released an upbeat spot, "What He Said," touting the bailout of GM and Chrysler, and "Cynical," an ad meant to combat the misleading spots run by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney that stoked fears that Jeep would move some of its production to China, at the expense of U.S. jobs.

The Obama campaign has bought airtime in Ohio specifically to run these states in the Buckeye State, along with Michigan. But don't be so quick to assume that putting these ads on Detroit television is all about putting Michigan in play.

As with Detroit's newspapers, several of the Motor City's networks bleed into northwest Ohio and television packages in Toledo. That's prime battleground turf in Ohio -- and, it's the home of a major Jeep production plant, a central part of the recent squabbling on autos.

The Romney campaign said in response: "President Obama can’t run from the facts. As a result of his handling of the auto bailout, American taxpayers stand to lose $25 billion and GM and Chrysler are expanding their production overseas. Unlike President Obama, Mitt Romney has a comprehensive plan to revive manufacturing, create millions of good-paying jobs, and deliver real change and a real recovery."

FAIRVIEW PARK, OH -- Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, the chairman of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's campaign in the Buckeye State, said Friday that it would be tough for Romney to win the election without carrying Ohio.

Al Behrman / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, shakes hands with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, after Portman introduced Romney at a campaign stop at Jet Machine, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, in Cincinnati.

"I'm feeling the pressure not just because I'm chairing the effort here in Ohio, but mostly because I feel the pressure for our country and what's going to happen over the next four years," Portman told NBC News on Friday while traveling between campaign stops for Romney. "If we don't win Ohio, it's tough to see us winning the election nationally. It's possible, but it's very difficult."

Most of the recent attention the Ohio senator has received has centered on the key role he played in Romney's debate preparation and how close he came to being chosen as the GOP vice presidential nominee. But before he took on any of those roles, he was tapped by Romney to lead the former Massachusetts governor's effort in the key battleground state.

"We're doing better in Cleveland, and Cincinnati and Columbus and Toledo where we have some of the numbers of the absentee and early voting, we're doing better than we expected we would," he told volunteers gathered at the Avon Lake Victory Center. "We're exceeding our targets."

Portman told the crowd that internal Romney polling shows the state is a dead heat with with 11 days to go until Election Day. He's making five stops in North east Ohio today before appearing at a rally with Romney and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan tonight. At each stop, the man who ran a successful statewide campaign just two years earlier, said the grassroots effort will make the difference in this state.

It's a difference, Portman feels, that will give Romney the edge here on Election Day.

"I believe the Obama campaign probably has a pretty effective grassroots infrastructure, but I dont think you can compete with volunteers who really have their heart in it and are fired up for all the right reasons," he said.

SWANTON, Ohio — Mitt Romney's major foreign policy speech got a boost just a few minutes after it ended from running mate Paul Ryan, who praised the address and also talked up foreign policy during a stop in the battleground state of Ohio.

“I just watched on TV what you watched on that TV,” Ryan said inside a hangar at Toledo Express Airport, where the crowd viewed  #mce_temp_url# live on a monitor. “We just watched what leadership looks like.”

After referencing the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed four American diplomats, Ryan vowed that if elected, the GOP ticket will keep America safe.

“The point is, in a Romney administration, when we know that we are clearly attacked by terrorists, we won’t be afraid to say what it is. If terrorists attack us, we will say we had a terrorist attack and more importantly, we will do what is necessary to prevent that from happening by having a strong military, by making sure that our adversaries do not test us, do not think that we are a weak and in retreat,” he said.

Standing with several veterans scattered throughout the nearly 1,000-person crowd Monday morning, the congressman hit President Barack Obama, accusing him of trying to distort his record of helping veterans while in Congress.

“Because President Obama does not have a good record to run on, he has resorted to trying to distort ours. Lately, he talks about what Bob Latta and I did in the House. He is mischaracterizing our support for veterans,” Ryan claimed. “Let me make one thing very clear, in the House budget that we drafted and that we passed, we fully met and exceeded the President’s request for veterans funding…by 270 million dollars. That means, we saw a commitment, a promise that our government has made to our veterans.”

He promised: “These people put their lives on the line and in a Romney administration we will always keep our promise and our commitment to our veterans."

Ryan’s foreign policy credentials – which were questioned when Romney first selected Ryan to join the ticket – will likely be brought up Thursday during the vice presidential debate against Vice President Joe Biden.

Speaking about the military and attacking Obama’s foreign policy is not new for the Republican vice presidential nominee, as he has addressed the topics during speeches in both Colorado and Florida.

Ryan now heads to Michigan to finish off the day — making his first appearance back in the state since Aug. 24th — holding a public rally in Rochester and an education roundtable in Detroit. 

Mary Altaffer / AP

Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. speaks during a campaign event, Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, in Swanton, Ohio.