USA: Republican President Candidate Mitt Romney tries to bounce back in the polls after several mishaps on the campaign trail the past couple of weeks.

Record ID: 347736

  • Title: USA: Republican President Candidate Mitt Romney tries to bounce back in the polls after several mishaps on the campaign trail the past couple of weeks.
  • Date: 22nd September 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) OGDEN, UTAH RESIDENT JIM WELLS SAYING: "Well it's honest. Everything he actually said takes place right now. Forty-seven percent of the people are taking welfare and stuff like that."
  • Embargoed: 7th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8WUO4IT7FBJANC69LFBEMMR3U
  • Story Text: On Thursday, August 30, the final day of the Republican National Convention, Republican President Candidate Mitt Romney led U.S. President Barack Obama 44%-42% among likely votes in the Ipsos/Reuters Daily Election Tracking poll.
    On Thursday, September 20, less than a month later, Obama led Romney 48%-43% in the Ipson/Reuters Daily Election Tracking poll.
    That dip in the polls is being attributed to an ugly couple of weeks for the Republican contender. And, has led some in Washington to ask if Romney is already done.
    Romney, followed the Republican convention, that led to a marginal "convention bounce" by fumbling his response to unrest in the Middle East.
    Following the attacks at the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that led to the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, Mitt Romney was critical of the Obama administration.
    "I also believe the administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those that had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions. It's never too early for the United States government to condemn attacks on Americans and to defend our values. The White House distanced itself last night from the statement saying it wasn't cleared by Washington and that reflects the mixed signals they are sending to the world," Romney said.
    Romney took heavy criticism for issuing a statement accusing Obama of sympathizing with Islamists who waged the attacks on U.S. diplomatic compounds in Egypt and Libya.
    A secretly taped video of Romney deriding 47 percent of U.S. voters have left his team reeling - and has many Republicans fearing doom in the November 6 election.
    The talking point "47 percent" has become so widely known that tourists in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. instantly knew what the reference "47 percent" meant.
    "Forty-seven percent is the number that Mitt Romney claims is the percentage that of the U.S. population that does not pay federal income tax," New Jersey resident Nick Colasurdo said.
    "Oh forty-seven percent? Of course I think you mean these people who Romney thinks vote for Obama in any case," Kai Doeing, who lives in Berlin, Germany said.
    More new surveys indicate that Obama has a significant edge where it matters most: in Ohio, Virginia and Florida, the most coveted of nine politically divided "swing" states that are crucial to cobbling together the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
    So, seven weeks before the election, is it already over for Mitt Romney? Not yet, according to political analysts. Despite the serial gaffes and the many questions about his campaign, Romney remains within striking range of the president.
    The former Massachusetts governor still has time to change the trajectory of the race - even though he has not shown an ability to do so for the past several months, as he has cast Obama as a failure in overseeing a struggling economy.
    There are three presidential debates in October, and Romney - who during the past month lightened his campaign schedule in favor of debate practices - clearly is pointing toward the showdowns with Obama as a chance to show Americans he is a better bet to turn things around.
    "I think part of what you need to do is not overreach. One of the biggest problems people have in campaigns is they get too anxious. If you look at the Libya situation he was being too anxious. So he doesn't need to go for the knockout punch, he just need to make sure that he's sounding Presidential on each answer and that has to be his focus. And if you look at most of the challenges that Romney's had it isn't because of something Obama's done, it's been self-inflicted. So just focus on looking Presidential, giving solid answers to each question and that in the end could be the result of him getting this campaign back on track," former Republican Congressman of Minnesota Mark Kennedy said,.
    Obama remains vulnerable thanks to a stubbornly high 8.1 percent unemployment rate, tepid economic growth and big majorities of voters who believe the United States is on the wrong track.
    Romney still faces huge challenges.
    Surveys indicate most Americans see Obama as relating to their concerns better than Romney, a former private equity executive with an estimated fortune of up to $250 million USD.
    A Republican convention dedicated to humanizing Romney appeared to have no lasting impact on voters. The video of Romney denigrating Obama's supporters as not paying income taxes and living off government handouts reinforced Democrats' message that Romney is an out-of-touch rich guy.
    To have any hope of beating Obama, Romney must project a warmer image, analysts say.
    Romney appeared to be trying to do that late on Wednesday in Florida, where he softened his tone on Obama's healthcare overhaul and on illegal immigration, and told Univision that "this is a campaign about the 100 percent."
    The comments came as his campaign opened a new assault on Obama that aimed to cast the president as wanting to redistribute wealth from rich Americans to the less fortunate.
    The stakes will be enormous at the first presidential debate on October 3 in Denver. It will focus on the economy and set the narrative for the final month of the campaign.
    The leader in the presidential race in mid-September typically holds on to win. But recent contests also have shown the race can shift dramatically in the last two months.
    The Romney campaign has cited the 1980 race as a model, when Republican Ronald Reagan trailed Democratic President Jimmy Carter for much of the autumn in the Gallup poll but blew open the race late after a strong performance in their only debate.
    But recent polls show no signs of improvement for Romney on some key indicators. The Pew poll found Obama was seen by a 3-to-1 ratio as the candidate who connects best with Americans.
    Romney's lead on handling the economy, the biggest issue in the election, also has faded, with the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showing Romney and Obama tied on the issue. Pew and Gallup polls also found Democratic enthusiasm had jumped since Obama's nominating convention.
    Republicans in "swing" states said, however, they were encouraged by the Romney campaign's voter-turnout efforts, designed to counter Obama's vaunted organization.
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