Why is Mitt Romney losing his edge on the economy?

(CBS News) The 2012 presidential campaign has had no shortage of surprise shifts, but regardless of the moment, gaffe, or intervening factor at play, there has emerged an unmistakably consistent GOP theme: This election, Republicans say, is about the economy.

Whether or not that's true - and most polls indicate that, at the very least, many voters prioritize jobs and/or the economy as their number one issue - there's little question why Republicans, and Mitt Romney's supporters, would make this argument. After all, the Republican presidential candidate has frequently outpolled President Obama on the issue.

A handful of new surveys, however, suggest that Romney's losing his edge on questions about the economy - a potentially troubling sign for a campaign that has recently been dogged by controversy.

"The entire campaign rests on him persuading voters that he has a better answer for the economy than Barack Obama," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist and pollster. "He's got to paint a compelling vision of an economic future."

Parsing the polls

In the weeks since the Democratic National Convention, a number of polls have shown the president closing in on Romney on questions about who would better handle the economy.

A new poll from NBC News/Wall Street Journal shows that between July and September, Mr. Obama's standing among registered voters has jumped 6 points - from 37 percent to 43 percent - on the question of whether he or Romney would do better at dealing with the economy, while Romney is steady at 43 percent. Similarly, a CNN/ORC Poll conducted among likely voters between Sept. 7-9 shows Mr. Obama with a 1-point advantage over Romney on the economy, with 50 percent to Romney's 49 percent. The week before, however, the same poll showed Romney leading Mr. Obama on the question 51-45. The week before that, Romney led the president 50-46. Among registered voters questioned about the economy in the same poll, Mr. Obama climbed two points between late June and September, from 47 percent to 49 percent. Romney, meanwhile, clocked in at 48 percent in late June and again in the September poll.

A Fox News poll released September 12 shows a similar upward trend for the president: In June, 46 percent of registered voters chose Romney when asked which candidate would do a better job handling the economy, while 39 percent chose Mr. Obama. As of September, Mr. Obama was even with Romney, at 45 percent, on the question of who would do a better job of creating jobs and improving the economy.

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[bbglow]

As one Republican campaign veteran said, "I felt like when I was watching that (47%) video that it was the first time I'd ever seen the real Mitt Romney."

More and more of US feel that way ...

[tsigili]

Simple. The Democratic Party has taken over the media in America, setting up the overthrow of this government, through misinformation. They are totally subversive, and bent on taking over this country, to make it a socialist dictatorship!

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

Just like fox news?

[bbglow]

Hyperbole ... the same can be said the extreme right. WE can use name calling also. How would like the extreme right fascist dictatorship?

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Republicans have been redistributing the wealth of middle and working class Americans up to the wealthy for decades. In fact the republican propaganda pitting the 99 percent against each other over the crumbs the rich leave would make Joseph Gobbells nazi minister of propaganda proud. The question remains to be answered whether the 99 percent will continue to vote republicans into office to continue screwing our great nation.

[stevehamilton858]

I don't think so. Abe Lincoln, the founder of Mr. Romney's party is credited with saying, "you can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time". The GOP is living on borrowed time, and if they don't change from their radical constituency, they will be an irrelevant "Rump Party" by 2013. If you know anything at all about equilibrium theory, (which you probably don't, but I do, having studied it for over twenty years) it is clear that a 99%/1% population will fall into disequilibrium. Just think about it, using a modicum of common sense, just as "nature hates a vacuum", serious imbalance will result in the loss of equilibrium. I'm reminded of the Grimm's fairy tale about the stupid person who killed the goose that laid golden eggs, so that he could get all of them first. GOOD MORNING GOP, to paraphrase Robin Williams.

[RollotheNorman]

Not losing, lost. People have finally figured out that he's no better job creator than that other great bizznessman/national savior, Ross Perot.

[Lindag20]

by Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals September 20, 2012 9:08 PM EDT
God will take care of him and horse-woman.
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OMG that's funny!!!

[Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals]

:)

By the way, Dapper Dan is over on "Romney ridicules Obama on 'change' remark"

[Lindag20]

Come on CBS. You're REALLY bad tonight.

[TimeToEvolve]

The idiot Robbed Me and his Republicon cronies are still puking out the same failed ideas of Reaganomics. The fake, fraudulent "free market" which is about as fixed as you can get. Deregulation that caused the Wall Street Bankster fraud in 2008. Privatization by inefficient, uncaring and greedy Wall Street corporations.

That is why the knucklehead Robbed Me Ryan is losing his edge. How stupid does Robbed Me Ryan think we are?

[washmohickory]

Will CBS put up the story that Obama doesn't 'precisely' know what the debt is - one of the 'real' and 'huge' national security risk according to his own administration? On top of that, he lies about the $1 trillion deficits he inherited. Where is that story?

http://www.inquisitr.com/337614/obama-to-letterman-i-dont-remember-how-much-the-national-debt-is-video/

http://crfb.org/blogs/hillary-clinton-says-national-debt-real-national-security-threat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS9jWDsX2Fk

[RollotheNorman]

Seeing as how the debt changes by the second (the debt clock is a bit of theatrical hooey, it's just time X rate of spending, not an actual count) no body could tell you except after a lot of record checking what the total debt was and a given time. My God, man, are your that blind?

[stevehamilton858]

As we say in AA, first things first. Knowing the precise number is a pedantic, second order issue. Trying to find jobs for vets is a first order problem. Getting prepared to get sucked into a war with Iran is another first order problem. As a 25 year veteran CFO, I know whereof I speak. when you're dealing in numbers as large as our national debt, knowing the exact number is not important; it's not like balancing your household budget, where you're spending $200 more a month than you'd like to, where it's important to know just how much of that $200 is truly decisionable.

[Lindag20]

by 1pheasant1 September 20, 2012 8:32 PM EDT
Each month over 700,000 Americans decided they didn't want their jobs anymore under President George W. Bush. The life of poverty was too attractive for them. According to Shallow, it wasn't Bush's fault.
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Of course people just LOVE losing their job, their homes and living in their car or in a shelter. Why not, it's SO much better than working.

[1pheasant1]

Dan is going to join them voluntarily.

[Lindag20]

That'll be the day.

[No-soup-for-you]

by Shallow_LibsAre_Cretins
I can harldy wait to get on welfare and food stamps

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It really would help if the Republican Congress hadn't passed the Farm Bill, which funds those food stamps, eh?

[Lindag20]

But what would Dan do if he gets fired from his low level IT job for being drunk and loses his BMW and house? He'd NEED welfare and food stamps.

[Repubs_R_Fiscal_Liberals]

God will take care of him and horse-woman.