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Presidential Race continues to Tighten

Aug 17, 2012

By Dave Andrusko

Ann Romney

As we do each Friday, the last National Right to Life News Today item of the week is an overview of the presidential race. This story will be less about polls (although plenty of that) than it will be impressionistic.

I was working late last night and I saw NBC’s Natalie Morales conduct an interview with Ann Romney, Mitt Romney’s wife. Mrs. Romney has been the target of really vicious cheap-shots, but for the most part (the opening image aside), the interview on “Rock Center” was remarkably free of the kind of loaded questions in which interviewer puts the interviewee unfairly on the defensive.

What came across is that the Romneys are a team in every sense of the word and that Mrs. Romney is fiercely loyal to and protective of her husband. It’s easy to see why many reporters have observed that she does a wonderful job bolstering the candidacy of Mitt Romney.

On the other hand, host Brian Williams told the viewer that next week “Rock Center” will look at Mormonism. Fair and balanced? I’d wager not.

And then there is Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan. The crowds love him as much as many mainstream media types loath him. Supposedly the Obama re-election team  gleefully anticipated that Mr. Romney might choose Rep. Ryan as his running mate. Personally, I don’t believe that for a moment, but if true, what instantly comes to mind is the old adage, “be careful what you wish for, it might come true.”

Speaking of Mr. Ryan and polls, we were repeatedly lectured that his presence hardly moved the needle at all–and if it did, it might be in the wrong direction.

CNN released a poll today taken entirely after the Saturday announcement and it shows that Wisconsin is “in play.” President Obama leads Mr. Romney 49%  to 45% among registered voters, within the margin of error. (By the way, Republican numbers always go up when the poll is “likely voters.”) “The poll also shows Ryan with high approval ratings in a state that’s already very familiar with him,” according to POLITICO.

One more poll about Ryan. A big part of the supposed glee that he was chosen was that his budget proposals would “scare seniors,” a big deal in states like Florida.

But, the Palm Beach Post reported today, “[T]wo Florida polls conducted since Ryan’s selection suggest that voters who are 65 and older support Ryan and his budget plan more than younger voters do.” George Bennett adds, “ A third Florida poll released this week doesn’t include an age breakdown, but finds the state’s voters agreeing more with Ryan’s description of his budget and Medicare plan than with Democratic criticisms that it would ‘end Medicare as we know it.’”

Yesterday CNN reported  that the race is tightening in Pennsylvania. CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser  wrote, “According to a Franklin and Marshall College poll released Thursday, 44% of Keystone State registered voters back President Barack Obama, with 38% backing the Republican challenger, and a high 15% undecided. The president’s six-point advantage is within the survey’s sampling error and is down from a 12 point 48%-36% lead for Obama over the former Massachusetts governor in Franklin and Marshall’s poll conducted in early June.

“If you factor in undecided voters who are leaning towards one candidate or another, the president holds a 47%-42% advantage, down from a 14-point 51%-37% lead in the last Franklin and Marshall poll.”

We updated you on a number of polls yesterday at www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2012/08/polls-shifting-in-romneyryan-direction/#more-16895. If anything, they were even more positive for the pro-life team!

Have a great weekend and remember what Mitt Romney said when he introduced Paul Ryan: “Paul believes in the worth and dignity of every human life, “adding, “Today is a good day for America and there are better days ahead.”

Categories: Mitt Romney