Can Romney save his flagging campaign and will efforts to connect with the electorate and humanize him succeed?
As the Presidential Campaign enters the debate season, the Romney/Ryan Campaign is pinning much of its hopes on the three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate next month. They need a serious “game changing” event to salvage their faltering campaign, as new polls show a continuing and growing Obama lead nationwide and—electorally important—in key battleground, swing states.
Perhaps most alarming; new polls all show Romney trailing badly in the bellwether state of Ohio, where Romney and Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Paul Ryan are blitzing the state with a multi-city bus tour. No Republican has ever reached The White House without winning Ohio.
Meanwhile, Romney campaign advisors and strategists are trying to downplay bad polling data, while media surrogates, like Rush Limbaugh, have been denigrating polling data as so much ‘liberal media bias,’ orchestrated to tamp down Republican turnout.
The all-important first presidential debate (schedule) is next Wednesday in swing state, Colorado, at the University of Denver, moderated by Jim Lehrer, host of ”NewsHour” on PBS. This debate will be a real test for Romney, as it will cover domestic policy and may be Romney’s last chance to overcome the terrible public response his recent ‘47% remarks’ generated from the ‘secret video’ from his $50,000-per-plate fundraising appearance in Florida.
The early voting dynamics may have a tremendous impact on this election, and–it is anticipated that as much as 35% of the American electorate will have cast their ballots before the November 6th General Election. If that number is accurate, it would be historic…and dramatically up from 30.6% in 2008. Even more dramatic is how this may impact key swing states like Ohio, where early voting begins October 2nd and, as many as 45% may vote early. In Colorado, upwards of 85% of voters are expected to vote early! Here is a complete early voting schedule for the nation.
In short, time is rapidly running out on the Romney/Ryan chances to turn things around. Hence the blitz of campaign bus tours and television interviews. This week, President Obama and First Lady Michelle appeared on ABC’s “The View” while the president was in New York to attend and address the opening of the 67th General Assembly of The United Nations.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney’s wife, Ann, made an appearance on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and tried to explain her frustrations with the campaign and with recent, growing criticism of the Romney Campaign coming from fellow Republicans. In an attempt to ‘humanize’ her husband she responded to a Leno personal question about Mitt, describing him as “cheap,” with what–I guess–she thought an ‘endearing’ revelation. She confided how Mitt makes it a habit of turning off the hot water heater when the family leaves the house and then, when they return, Mitt “pretends to forget” to turn it back on.
I’m not so sure personal stories like that one will do the trick or make him seem ‘warm and fuzzy’ to the millions of Americans who see him as out of touch with average folks. For me, a Romney presidency conjures up an image of someone who will turn off a lot more than just the hot water heater.
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