Romney will offer specifics in debate, campaign says

(CBS News) Ahead of the first 2012 presidential debate, voters are looking for the specifics of Mitt Romney's economic agenda and tax reform plan. His campaign says that voters will hear that Wednesday night. 

"On the issue of tax reform I think Gov. Romney will offer a great deal of specifics about what he would do," Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden said on "CBS This Morning." That said, Madden added, "It's hard to get into a whole lot of specifics, particularly when you're talking about something as complex as all the deductions you would go through as part of tax reform."

Whether Romney gets any more granular than he has already largely "depends on the questions" at tonight's debate in Denver, Madden said, but he maintained, "I think you'll hear a great deal of specifics."

In an interview with KDVR in Denver Monday night, Romney suggested his campaign has considered capping deductions, including those for mortgage interest and charitable donations, as part of his tax reform plan.

While the Romney and Obama campaigns sold their competing agendas this week, their events on Tuesday were overshadowed by the promotion of a video from 2007 showing then-Sen. Obama delivering racially charged remarks about the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. As CBS News chief political correspondent Jan Crawford reported on "CBS This Morning," Mr. Obama's remarks were covered by the media in 2007, and there's speculation conservatives zeroed in on the footage on the eve of the first debate "to get under the president's skin."

The Romney campaign is denying responsibility for the tape's release and promotion among conservative media. Madden declined to say whether he agreed with Fox News personality Sean Hannity, who called the tape a "bombshell."

"I think a number of folks covered it in 2007 and will continue to cover it today," he said. "How they cover it in that context, I think a lot of that is up to individual voters and whether they think it's relevant to the conversation we're having today. We believe as a campaign -- I think Gov. Romney believes -- what's most relevant are the president's policies and how they're affecting people's lives."