VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – President Barack Obama pledged to create many more jobs and “make the middle class secure again” in a campaign-closing appeal on Thursday – more than five weeks before Election Day – to voters already casting ballots in large numbers.

Republican Mitt Romney, focusing on threats beyond American shores, accused the commander in chief of backing dangerous cuts in defense spending.

“The idea of cutting our military is unthinkable and devastating. And when I become president we will not,” declared the challenger, struggling to reverse a slide in opinion polls.