Changes

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|Gaffes/staying on message

|Gaffes/staying on message

|[[Romney's 47 percent comment|47% of American don't pay income tax and won't vote for me]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2012/0920/Are-Romney-s-47-percent-comments-beginning-to-move-the-polls-video|title=Are Romney's '47 percent' comments beginning to move the polls?|work=Christian Science Monitor|accessdate=September 25, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1212/Mitt-Romney-gaffes-11-times-the-button-down-candidate-should-have-buttoned-up/My-job-is-not-to-worry-about-those-people|title=Mitt Romney gaffes: 11 times the button-down candidate should have buttoned up|work=Christian Science Monitor|author= Linda Feldmann|accessdate=September 25, 2012}}</ref>/London Olympics not ready comment<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/27/politics/romney-london-troubles/index.html|title=Romney trip begins in shambles|work=CNN|author=[[Jim Acosta]]|date=July 27, 2012|accessdate=September 25, 2012}}</ref>

|[[Romney's 47 percent comment|47% of American don't pay income tax and won't vote for me]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Wire/2012/0920/Are-Romney-s-47-percent-comments-beginning-to-move-the-polls-video|title=Are Romney's '47 percent' comments beginning to move the polls?|work=Christian Science Monitor|accessdate=September 25, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1212/Mitt-Romney-gaffes-11-times-the-button-down-candidate-should-have-buttoned-up/My-job-is-not-to-worry-about-those-people|title=Mitt Romney gaffes: 11 times the button-down candidate should have buttoned up|work=Christian Science Monitor|author= Linda Feldmann|accessdate=September 25, 2012}}</ref>/London Olympics not ready comment<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/27/politics/romney-london-troubles/index.html|title=Romney trip begins in shambles|work=CNN|author=[[Jim Acosta]]|date=July 27, 2012|accessdate=September 25, 2012}}</ref>

|"[[You didn't build that]]"

|"[[You didn't build that]]"

|Obama has a media covering up his gaffes any way they can, but Romney has better control of his message. Advantage to Romney.

|Obama has a media covering up his gaffes any way they can, but Romney has better control of his message. Advantage to Romney.

== History ==

== History ==

No incumbent has won reelection in the past 70 years with unemployment above 7.2%; reported unemployment is at 7.9% (and real unemployment much higher).<ref>The [[economy]] grew less than predicted in the first quarter, and "the last time the economy was this slow was in the last year of President [[George H.W. Bush]]’s one term in office" - '''''who then lost reelection'''''. [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2012/0427/GDP-report-puts-Obama-in-economic-gray-zone.-Will-Republicans-profit]  The September 7 labor report observed, "Just 63.5% of the working-age population was either employed or actively looking for work -- '''''a 30-year low'''''." [https://money.cnn.com/2012/09/07/news/economy/august-jobs-report/index.html]</ref>

No incumbent has won reelection in the past 70 years with unemployment above 7.2%; reported unemployment is at 7.9% (and real unemployment much higher).<ref>The [[economy]] grew less than predicted in the first quarter, and "the last time the economy was this slow was in the last year of President [[George H.W. Bush]]’s one term in office" - '''''who then lost reelection'''''. [https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2012/0427/GDP-report-puts-Obama-in-economic-gray-zone.-Will-Republicans-profit]  The September 7 labor report observed, "Just 63.5% of the working-age population was either employed or actively looking for work -- '''''a 30-year low'''''." [https://money.cnn.com/2012/09/07/news/economy/august-jobs-report/index.html]</ref>

==Campaign strategy==

==Campaign strategy==

*Wednesday October 3: The first presidential debate took place at the [[University of Denver]] in [[Denver|Denver, Colorado]],<ref name="debates">{{cite web |url=http://decoded.nationaljournal.com/2011/10/fall-2012-presidential-debates.php |title=Fall 2012 Presidential Debates Set |work=National Journal |first=Kathy |last=Kiely |date=October 31, 2011| accessdate=October 12, 2012}}</ref> moderated by [[Jim Lehrer]]<ref name="moderators">Blake, Aaron (August 13, 2012) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/presidential-debate-moderators-announced-crowley-is-first-woman-in-20-years/2012/08/13/0e327af6-e553-11e1-8f62-58260e3940a0_blog.html "Presidential debate moderators announced: Crowley is first woman in 20 years"], ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Retrieved October 12, 2012.</ref>

*Wednesday October 3: The first presidential debate took place at the [[University of Denver]] in [[Denver|Denver, Colorado]],<ref name="debates">{{cite web |url=http://decoded.nationaljournal.com/2011/10/fall-2012-presidential-debates.php |title=Fall 2012 Presidential Debates Set |work=National Journal |first=Kathy |last=Kiely |date=October 31, 2011| accessdate=October 12, 2012}}</ref> moderated by [[Jim Lehrer]]<ref name="moderators">Blake, Aaron (August 13, 2012) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/presidential-debate-moderators-announced-crowley-is-first-woman-in-20-years/2012/08/13/0e327af6-e553-11e1-8f62-58260e3940a0_blog.html "Presidential debate moderators announced: Crowley is first woman in 20 years"], ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Retrieved October 12, 2012.</ref>

*Thursday October 11: The vice-presidential debate took place at [[Centre College]] in [[Danville, Kentucky]],<ref name="debates" /> moderated by [[Martha Raddatz]] of [[ABC News]]<ref name="moderators"/>

*Thursday October 11: The vice-presidential debate took place at [[Centre College]] in [[Danville, Kentucky]],<ref name="debates" /> moderated by [[Martha Raddatz]] of [[ABC News]]<ref name="moderators"/>

*Tuesday October 16: The second presidential debate (with a town-hall meeting format) took place at [[Hofstra University]] in [[Hempstead (village), New York|Hempstead, New York]].<ref name="debates" /> moderated by [[Candy Crowley]] of [[CNN]].<ref name="moderators"/><ref>Little, Morgan (July 25, 2012) [http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-presidential-debate-formats-announced-feature-town-hall-20120725,0,7862238.story "Presidential debate formats announced, feature town hall"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved October 12, 2012.</ref>

*Tuesday October 16: The second presidential debate (with a town-hall meeting format) took place at [[Hofstra University]] in [[Hempstead (village), New York|Hempstead, New York]].<ref name="debates" /> moderated by [[Candy Crowley]] of [[CNN]].<ref name="moderators"/><ref>Little, Morgan (July 25, 2012) [https://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-presidential-debate-formats-announced-feature-town-hall-20120725,0,7862238.story "Presidential debate formats announced, feature town hall"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved October 12, 2012.</ref>

*Monday October 22: The third and final presidential debate on foreign policy took place at [[Lynn University]] in [[Boca Raton, Florida]],<ref name="debates" /> moderated by [[Bob Schieffer]] of [[CBS News]].<ref name="moderators"/>

*Monday October 22: The third and final presidential debate on foreign policy took place at [[Lynn University]] in [[Boca Raton, Florida]],<ref name="debates" /> moderated by [[Bob Schieffer]] of [[CBS News]].<ref name="moderators"/>