Mitt Romney talked directly about the middle class today at a fundraiser, saying “The question of this campaign is not who cares about the poor and the middle class. I do. He does.”
“The question,” Romney continued, “is who can help the poor and the middle class? I can! He can’t!”
Finally.
Romney has been talking more about his five-point plan for the middle class, but has generally seemed reluctant to talk specifically about the middle class or low-income voters, instead preferring to focus on how a rejuvenated economy would help all Americans.
That strategy has brought Romney to the point where Obama has a 19-point lead over Romney in a NBC/WSJ poll when it comes to which candidate voters think is looking out for the middle class. In the AP/Gfk poll out today (which shows Obama only a point ahead), 52 percent of likely voters think Obama “better understands the problems of people like you,” while only 41 percent think that of Romney.
And then look at these numbers from CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac:
Voters say Obama cares about their needs and problems, while Romney does not:
Colorado: Obama cares 55 – 41 percent while Romney doesn’t care 50 – 45 percent;
Virginia: Obama cares 59 – 37 percent while Romney doesn’t care 50 – 44 percent;
Wisconsin: Obama cares 60 – 37 percent while Romney doesn’t care 51 – 43 percent.
In fact, in Colorado (where Romney is just a point behind Obama among likely voters), 54 percent of likely voters think Romney’s policies will favor the rich, 10 percent the middle class, and 1 percent the poor. Thirty-two percent think all people, regardless of class, will be treated the same under the policies of a Romney administration. Now let’s look at those numbers for Obama: 9 percent think he will favor the rich, 33 percent the middle class, 27 percent the poor, and 26 percent think all will be treated the same.
Romney faced similar numbers in Virginia (55 percent thinks his policies will help rich, 11 percent middle class) and Wisconsin (55 percent see him as helping the rich, and 10 percent the middle class).
Romney doesn’t need to change his policies. But if he could start making the case more aggressively that — contra much of the discussion in the media — his economic policies will help the middle class and the poor, it could help his numbers improve.