Mitt Romney can still win the presidential election if he can convince Americans he has the best plan to reinvigorate the economy, according to analysis by Vanderbilt professor John Geer of two new ads released by Romney鈥檚 campaign.
Romney released two new attack ads aimed at President Obama as the first debate approached.
The first, 鈥淒ear Daughter,鈥� features video of a baby girl with narration including, 鈥淢ore than 5.5 million women can鈥檛 find work. That鈥檚 what Obama鈥檚 policies have done for women. Welcome, daughter.鈥�
The second ad, 鈥淭oo Many Americans,鈥� features Romney speaking directly to voters, saying he can do better than Obama with the economy: 鈥淧resident Obama and I both care about poor and middle class families,鈥� Romney says in the ad. 鈥淭he difference is, my policies will make things better for them.鈥�
Geer says the second approach connected strongly with 鈥減ure independent voters鈥� surveyed by the , while the 鈥渟ofter鈥� baby ad didn鈥檛 do nearly as well. Those 鈥減ure independent voters鈥� may be very influential if the election is close.
鈥淲ith the 鈥楧ear Daughters鈥� ad, Romney and Obama are tied among the pure independent voters,鈥� said Geer, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science. 鈥淲ith the 鈥楾oo Many Americans鈥� ad, Romney soars to a 17 percentage-point lead,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hese results suggest that if Romney can make the case to the public about why his economic plan is better, he might make real inroads in this election,鈥� Geer said. 鈥淭he debates provide an important opportunity to do so, since he will be on the same stage with the presidentof the United States.
鈥淭hese data further suggest that the country is not locked down and this election can still be won by Romney. But the message matters and the governor needs to be an effective messenger during the debates.鈥�
YouGov uses a representative sample of 600 Americans, with an over-sample of 200 independent voters, to rate political ads. Results and a link to the 鈥淭oo Many Americans鈥� and 鈥淒ear Daughter鈥� ads are posted on a website for .
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