Neil Newhouse, Mitt Romney's pollster, had a message for voters on Monday morning: “Don't get too worked up about the latest polling.â€
In a memo released by the campaign, Mr. Newhouse acknowledged that President Obama had emerged with more of a post-convention bump in some polls after two weeks of back-to-back party conventions, but dismissed it as “a sugar high.â€
“While some voters will feel a bit of a sugar high from the conventions, the basic structure of the race has not changed significantly,†he wrote. “The reality of the Obama economy will reassert itself as the ultimate downfall of the Obama presidency, and Mitt Romney will win this race.â€
The mere existence of the memo seemed to place Team Romney on the defensive, forced to publicly assert that it is still in a position to win on Election Day. But the Romney campaign used the memo to underscore what has been its existing rationale for his candidacy - the struggling economy, which has not improved as quickly as Mr. Obama and most voters had hoped.
“The key numbers in this election are the 43 straight months of 8 percent or higher unemployment, the 23 million Americans struggling to find work, and the 47 million Americans who are on food stamps,†Mr. Newhouse wrote, citing the disappointing jobs report that came out on Friday. “Americans are not better off than we were four years ago, and that is why President Obama has struggled in this race.â€
In the memo, the campaign also pointed to the expanding map of swing states, as well as its post-convention cash advantage, as reasons why it expects to win in November.
