President Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney are hitting battleground states hard as the first presidential debate draws near.

Romney campaigned in Philadelphia. No Republican presidential candidate has won Pennsylvania in nearly a quarter century.
    
Meanwhile, the Obama campaign is pushing voter registration in North Carolina.
    
Campaign workers have registered more than 250,000 new voters since April 2011.
    
President Obama won North Carolina by just 14,000 votes in 2008.
    
So far, polls show Romney leading in the state.