Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has received harsh criticism during this election cycle for not being able to relate to the poor and middle class. Some have said he is too rich to be president, especially in today's economy.
His comments at a private fundraiser in May, stating that "47 percent" of voters are "dependent on government" didn't sit too well. A poll conducted by The Washington Post showed that 54 percent of people saw Romney's comments as "unfavorable."
His comments obviously didn't have a huge negative impact because Politico also conducted a poll that showed Romney actually fairs favorably with middle-class voters.
The poll found that President Barack Obama leads Romney by just three points on the ballot (50 percent to 47 percent) - which before we rounded up, is actually a 2.6 point lead and only up a half-a-percentage point from the 2.1 point lead for Obama in our last Battleground poll in early August. The poll also found that Romney holds a 14-point advantage (55 percent to 41 percent). Middle-class families are more inclined to believe the country is on the wrong track (34 percent right direction, 62 percent wrong track), are more likely to hold an unfavorable view of Obama (48 percent favorable, 51 percent unfavorable), and hold a more favorable view of Romney (51 percent favorable, 44 percent unfavorable) and Paul Ryan (46 percent favorable, 35 percent unfavorable) than the overall electorate. It said these middle-class families also hold a majority disapproval rating on the job Obama is doing as president (45 percent approve, 54 percent disapprove), and turn even more negative toward Obama on specific areas; the economy 56 percent disapprove; spending 61 percent disapprove; taxes, 53 percent disapprove; Medicare 48 percent disapprove; and even foreign policy 50 percent disapprove.
Romney's campaign released a new video today titled Too Many Americans, which speaks directly to those struggling in today's economy.
"Too many Americans are struggling to find work in today's economy. Too many of those that are working are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to make falling incomes meeting rising prices for food and gas," says Romney in the ad. "More Americans are living in poverty than when President Obama took office, and 15 million more are on food stamps."
"President Obama and I both care about poor and middle class families, the difference is my policies will make things better for them," Romney continues.
Politico's article said that Romney's only chance of winning the 2012 election was to "make substantial changes" to his political campaign. It looks as if he's taking note.
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