- NEW: Mitt Romney giving previously unscheduled interviews with TV networks
- President Obama kicks off two days of campaigning in a key battleground state
- In 2008, Obama became the first Democrat to win Virginia since 1964
- Polls show Obama with a slight lead over Romney in the state
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama kicked off two days of campaigning in Virginia by telling a boisterous crowd Friday that he kept his promise to bring change that helped middle-class families, and now it was time for them to work to re-elect him.
"Because of the values we share, I believe in you." Obama told the chanting, cheering supporters in a Virginia Beach school gymnasium. "And I hope you believe in me, because I've kept that promise, and I fought for you and I'm going to keep on fighting for you as long as I have a chance to be your president."
To rising applause, he continued: "And if you're willing to stand up with me and knock on doors with me, and make phone calls and get out and organize, then we'll finish what we started in 2008."
It was pure campaign politicking in the November presidential race against certain Republican nominee Mitt Romney that has intensified in recent days with accusations of lying and diversionary tactics by both sides.
McDonnell: Obama won't win Virginia 
O'Malley: Obama a strong, humble man For his part, Romney was giving a series of previously unscheduled interviews Friday with the nation's major television and cable networks, reflecting the rising stakes in the battle to control the campaign message less than four months before the vote.
Obama carried Virginia four years ago, becoming the first Democrat to win the state since 1964, and polls show him with a slight lead over Romney at this point. He emphasized Friday that despite negative ads flooding the airwaves, it is the voters who hold the ultimate power on election day.
"When you decide change is going to happen, change happens," Obama said amid recurring chants of "four more years" and "U.S.A." "When you decide we're going to move forward, we move forward."
Delivering what is becoming his stump speech for the campaign, the president complained about the stalemate in Washington that he blamed on differing visions by each party. He framed the debate as a choice between moving forward with Democratic policies or going backward with Republican calls to return to what he called failed policies of the past.
"I don't want to go backwards. I want to go forward," Obama repeated several times in outlining the differences between what he proposes and what Romney backs.
The Romney campaign reacted immediately, saying Obama policies that have failed to bring down high unemployment and promote growth are what should not be repeated.
"He's right. Why would we try his failed policies again?" said a statement from Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg.
In his most direct criticism of Republicans, Obama admonished the House GOP leadership for holding more than 30 votes on repealing or dismantling his signature health care reform law while refusing to join him in extending tax cuts on income of up to $250,000 for families and $200,000 for individuals.
"All it would take is one vote to make sure that all of you don't see your taxes go up next year," Obama said. "You tell me what would be a better use of time."
Obama's plan would mean higher taxes for 2% of the country who earn more than $250,000 a year, which he argued was necessary to help bring down budget deficits and would cause little discomfort to wealthy people "like me."
Republicans, however, reject any tax hikes in adhering to conservative principles of shrinking government to reduce deficits, as opposed to Obama's call for what he calls a balanced approach that would include further spending cuts and increased tax revenue.
The president headed to Hampton and Roanoke for more speeches Friday, then will return to the White House for the night before two more Virginia events Saturday in Richmond and Chantilly.
Virginia receives a heavy amount of federal spending for military purposes, with the world's largest naval base in Norfolk, and Obama made sure to point out his support for military families in the wake of ending the Iraq war and winding down the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
"I'm running for president because, you know, there are a lot of folks in Virginia who have served us in uniform with such bravery and dedication and patriotism, and I want us to keep faith with our troops and make sure that our veterans get the benefits that they have earned and that military families ... are getting the help that they need when their loved ones are fighting on our behalf," he said in Virginia Beach to cheers and applause.
Meanwhile, a war of words between the competing campaigns over Romney's tenure at Bain Capital flared anew Friday, as Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell rebuked the Obama camp for what he called false ads that said Romney promoted outsourcing jobs overseas while heading the private equity firm.
"All that wonderful lofty hope and change rhetoric in 2008 has now delved into a message of division and destruction and malaise," McDonnell told reporters at a news conference with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a fellow Republican.
The outsourcing accusations have been proven "flat wrong" by The Washington Post and FactCheck.org, McDonnell said, adding: "It's false and he ought to pull those ads."
Earlier, McDonnell told CNN that he believes support for Romney is growing in his state.
"About four months ago, Romney was down eight points," McDonnell said, adding that the more that people examine what he called "the failed leadership and impact of the regulatory policies in Virginia" in comparison to Romney's ideas, "I think it gets better for Romney."
"I won by 18 points after (Obama's 2008 victory in Virginia) and what I'm hearing on the ground from business people and just the independent voter is this jobless record of 41 months over 8% and crushing national debt are the things that are driving people towards Mitt Romney," McDonnell said.
Also Friday, both campaigns came out with new attacks that challenged the credibility of the opposing candidate.
A new Romney ad used footage of Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech to frame the president as hypocritical in his campaign tactics.
Titled "What happened?" the 30-second spot faults Obama for making "dishonest" attacks in the 2012 presidential race, despite condemning such strategy in his speech four years ago. The clips of Obama's old speech in Denver, however, appeared to be presented out of context.
The Obama campaign released a new online video called "Your Turn" that highlights what it called Romney's misrepresentation of his departure from Bain Capital.
Romney says he ceded control at Bain Capital in February 1999 in preparation to run the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. However, The Boston Globe reported Thursday that documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission stated that Romney owned 100% of the company until as late as 2002.
Romney's campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, called the Globe article "not accurate," and Steve Pagliuca, a Bain managing partner, told CNN that Romney had "absolutely no involvement with the management or investment activities" of the firm after his February 1999 exit, although he continued to be the sole stockholder.
"Due to the sudden nature of Mr. Romney's departure, he remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999," said Pagliuca, a Democrat. "Accordingly, Mr. Romney was reported in various capacities on SEC filings during this period."
The timing of his end date at the firm remains an important focal point in the presidential race, as Romney argues he left the company before it was involved with the shuttering of certain businesses that led to job losses.
The nonpartisan group FactCheck.org said it previously looked into the matter of when Romney left Bain Capital and concluded there was insufficient evidence to show that Romney was still managing the company, even part-time, during his time with the Olympics.
Obama's campaign also has been calling on Romney to release more than the two years' worth of tax documents he has already made public, suggesting the candidate may be hiding important details about his finances.
However, some Republicans have joined Democrats in saying that a candidate's financial records are fair game in a presidential election campaign.
So far, the former Massachusetts governor has released his 2010 tax records and an estimate for 2011, but he has filed an extension for his 2011 taxes. In an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Romney said he'll release the most recent documents "as soon as they're prepared." Romney has an estimated net worth of more than $250 million.
In a sign that Republicans want to shift attention away from the Bain Capital issue, Romney's campaign teased supporters Thursday with news of an upcoming announcement on his choice for a vice presidential nominee.
"Sometime between now and the Republican convention, Mitt will be announcing his choice for VP," said an e-mail from campaign manager Matt Rhoades.
Later Thursday, the conservative Drudge Report posted a story, attributed to unnamed sources, saying that Romney had narrowed the field of prospective candidates to a handful, with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as "a surprise name" on the short list.
Rice, who was the first African-American woman to serve as secretary of state, has repeatedly denied any interest in running for vice president. In addition, Romney has previously declared his running mate will be someone who opposes abortion, while Rice told CBS in 2008 that she was "mildly pro-choice."
Erick Erickson, a CNN contributor and the editor of Red State, a popular conservative blog, tweeted that he had been assured by people in the Romney campaign that the choice would not be Rice.
CNN's Kevin Bohn, Paul Steinhauser and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
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