It will
never be a easy running for president but you know your campaign is in trouble when
the only bright spot in the week is receiving the backing of Hollywood legend
Clint Eastwood[1]. According
to a poll by the Pew Research Centre, Mitt Romney, for the sixth time in 9
months, has had negative ratings with regard to his personal image[2].
While there
were signs of improvement in his favourables due to a 26 point gap between his favourable
and unfavorables were cut down to 7 but in the last month, the gap has grown again
by 8 points[3]. Compare
Romney’s favourable rating to Obama’s and a 13 point difference emerges in
favour of Obama, despite the President’s unfavourable numbers being on the high
side for an incumbent[4].
These numbers were collected before Romney’s disastrous
foreign tour where he managed to break the golden rule of state visits and
general etiquette when in the home of others: Do not, at all costs, insult the
host. Winning an election is hardly a walk in the park but its damn near
impossible with favourable/unfavourable ratings like this.
However this
is no surprise as the democrats have done fantastic job as painting Mitt Romney
as rich, tax dodging plutocrat. Prominent democrats have toured TV shows and took
to the floor of congress demanding that Romney reveals his tax returns with
Democratic senator of Nevada Harry Reid publicly accusing Romney of not paying
his taxes for the last decade[5].
While it’s
not all good, it’s not exactly all bad either as Romney remains a competent
fundraiser and despite his worrying favourable/unfavourable numbers, he still
has a chance to become president in an election that is going to be too close
to call.
In sum, it
has been a horrible week for Romney and a horrible six months for his favourable/unfavourable ratings but the best news in the Romney camp is
probably lies in the fact that Britons and
Palestinians don’t vote in US national elections and popularity don’t necessarily
correlate progress in the polls that matter.
[1]
Belfast Telegraph, 2012, Clint Eastwood Backs Romney For President, http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/us-election/clint-eastwood-backs-mitt-romney-for-president-16193809.html
[2]
Pew Research Centre, 2012, Romney’s personal image remains negative, http://www.people-press.org/2012/08/02/romneys-personal-image-remains-negative/
[3]
Ibid
[4]
Ibid
[5] S.
Mehta, 2012, Harry Reid, Mitt Romney Trade Sharper Barbs Over Taxes, http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-harry-reid-mitt-romney-trade-sharper-barbs-over-taxes-20120803,0,3256490.story
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