Entering Home Stretch, Presidential Race Hasn’t Changed

Mitt Romney took the initiative and the lead with his thrashing of Barack Obama in their first debate, and little or nothing has changed since then. Today’s Rasmussen survey finds Romney leading Obama 49%-47%. So the race continues to be remarkably free of volatility. As we anticipated, the vice-presidential debate sparked a lot of controversy, but has had little or no impact on the race.

One factor that probably buoys Romney is that he is finally equaling Obama’s ad spending in the swing states, and sometimes even exceeding it. Until now, what voters have seen about Romney on television, whether in the form of advertising or “news reporting,” has been negative by a margin of three to one. Finally getting through to voters in his own voice should help to keep Romney’s numbers up.

This ad, based on the vice-presidential debate, came out today. It is called “Fiscal Discipline,” and juxtaposes Paul Ryan talking seriously about the nation’s financial problems with shots of the buffoonish Joe Biden. It is effective because it pounds on a winning theme: the nation cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama’s irresponsibility:

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses