Remove the MSM Filter, and Romney Takes the Lead

Over the past several months of the campaign, I have maintained that the main stream media (MSM) is the reason for the Obama lead in the polls. Those polls, of course, over sample Democrats in order to fit the MSM meme of an Obama lead and a flailing Romney campaign.

Give the nation 90 minutes of seeing Mitt Romney without the filter of the MSM, and we see the evidence of this. Romney is now in the lead in virtually every poll nationally, especially with “likely” voters (which is the relevant number versus “registered” voters). And, the pollsters are abandoning the 2008 voting model in favor of models that reflected a muted version of the 2010 election.

As the Executive Director of PolitiGal Network, I have to be pleased with the new poll results showing that Romney is closing the gap with women. According to the latest Pew Poll, Obama has lost 9 points with women while Romney has gained 6. It appears that the falsified “war on women” was an epic fail. Women are statistically tied regarding their support for one candidate or the other in post-debate polling. In fact, Romney’s numbers have increased with all major demographic groups divided by education, race and gender, with the exception of African-Americans. Even Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast said the following regarding President Obama:

The Pew poll is devastating, just devastating.

In my home state of Ohio, Romney has taken the lead in a poll today. In that same poll, he has only a 3 point deficit versus Obama with women in the state. Perhaps most notably,  57% of independents in Ohio say they support Romney to a mere 37% for Obama.

Today’s Rasmussen poll shows that Romney is ahead in 11 swing states that Obama won in 2008: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. These total 146 electoral votes. Most, but not all, of the responses in that poll were collected after the debate.

Assuming Paul Ryan at least holds his own Thursday night, Romney is looking ahead to the next debate where both domestic and foreign policy will be discussed. Given the complete break-down of the sham that the Obama administration presented to the nation for the Libya attacks, Romney has an opportunity to look presidential in the next two debates. He needs to make voters confident that he would have provided the requested security for the Libyan embassy and worked to pre-empt the attacks rather than allowing the situation to spiral out of control. Romney must demonstrate that he values the relationship with Israel more than Obama (which should not be too much of a challenge). And, he needs to elevate himself to the rank of “international leader” over international celebrity, as Obama has defined himself. People will flock to a leader who is compassionate but strong, truthful but measured and patient but determined.

Without the MSM to filter Mitt Romney, he has the opportunity to finish strong showing the American people who he really is. The spin that follows only makes the Obama campaign appear desperate, and the MSM that proliferates the spin earns the distrust of an American electorate that viewed the “real” Mitt Romney first hand. Americans can watch Mitt Romney and decide for themselves, without the MSM filter. And, decided we have.

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