CLEVELAND — Framing his re-election bid as a stark choice between government action to lift the middle class and a return to Republican economic policies that he said had caused a deep recession, President Obama on Thursday called the presidential decision facing Americans a clear-cut one that will determine the long-term trajectory of the economy.

“This November is your chance to render a verdict on the debate over how to grow the economy, how to create good jobs, how to pay down our deficit,” Mr. Obama told enthusiastic supporters at Cuyahoga Community College here. “Your vote will finally determine the path that we take as a nation — not just tomorrow, but for years to come.”

The address, by a president who sounded as if he realized he was in a fight for his political life, represented a determined effort to stem two weeks of political and economic sliding that began with a grim jobs report. It came on a day of political gamesmanship in this crucial swing state, as Mitt Romney, the president’s rival, scheduled a speech 250 miles away in Republican-friendly Cincinnati in an effort to overshadow Mr. Obama and pre-emptively attack him for failing to revive the economy.

Speaking shortly before Mr. Obama in remarks that, like the president’s, were carried on cable news programs, Mr. Romney said Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign felt compelled to deliver a major address on the economy “because he hasn’t delivered a recovery for the economy.”