The Democratic super PAC Priorities USA Action uses footage from the now infamous hidden camera video to hit Mitt Romney on his 47% line.
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Too Late for Romney?
Mark McKinnon: “I’ve been asked how Romney turns things around at this point. I’ve been a consistent voice warning against writing off his campaign in September. Because I’ve been there before when people wrote off the Bush campaign in 2000.”
“But, now I honestly don’t know what Romney can do to win support from the voters he needs to gain a majority. I thought the debates would be an opportunity, but he has dug his hole so deeply now, I don’t know if he can pull himself out. Does he get up and say, ‘I was just kidding. I don’t see half of America as victims. I just needed to raise some money, and I got a little carried away talking to the 1 percent.'”
Warren Ahead in Massachusetts
A WBUR poll in Massachusetts voters finds challenger Elizabeth Warren (D) leading Sen. Scott Brown (R) by five points among likely voters, 45% to 40%.
It’s the fourth poll in four days showing Warren with the lead.
Murphy Just Ahead in Connecticut
A new University of Connecticut-Hartford Courant poll in Connecticut shows Rep. Chris Murphy (D) just ahead of Linda McMahon (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 37% to 33%, but with 29% still undecided.
Poll Finds Americans Split on Polls
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 46% of Americans hold favorable views of polls in general, and 47% have negative ones.
Wisconsin Senate Race a Dead Heat
A new Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll in Wisconsin finds Tammy Baldwin (D) locked in a tight race with former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) for U.S. Senate, 47% to 47%, with 6% still undecided.
Obama Increases Lead Nationally
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds President Obama leads Mitt Romney nationally among likely voters, 50% to 45%.
Key finding: Obama and Romney are tied, 43% to 43%, on which candidate would do better on the economy.
Said pollster Peter Hart: “Simply put, if Romney doesn’t win on dealing with the economy, he doesn’t win.”
The survey also gives Obama his highest job approval since March at 50%.
The Endgame
Coming next week: The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama by Michael R. Gordon and Bernard E. Trainor.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“If somebody is dumb enough to ask me to go to political convention and say something, they’re gonna have to take what they get.”
— Clint Eastwood, quoted by TMZ, responding to criticisms of his speech at the Republican convention.
GOP Candidates Distance Themselves from Romney
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) came out in opposition to Mitt Romney’s controversial comments that were made public in a hidden camera video, “an attempt to distance himself from a candidate that remains deeply unpopular in Massachusetts,” The Hill reports.
Meanwhile. the Hartford Courant reports U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon (R) was also quick to denounce Romney’s comments in the secret video.
Flashback of the Day
“Running for president in the YouTube era, you realize you have to be very judicious in what you say. You have to be careful with your humor. You have to recognize that anytime you’re running for the presidency of the United States, you’re on.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by the New York Times, in June 16, 2007.
The Complete Romney Hidden Camera Video
The complete, unedited hidden camera video from a Mitt Romney fundraiser in Florida earlier this year has now been released.
Mother Jones: “Romney is not the only one who has called for the release of the full 49-minute video. And we’re more than happy to oblige. The complete video demonstrates that Romney was not snippetized and that he was captured raw and uncut.”
Meanwhile, Forbes reports it’s illegal in twelve states — including Florida — to record covertly at least the audio portion of a conversation where all parties have not consented.
Latest National Polls
Here are the latest national polls, updated as needed throughout the day:
United Press International: Obama 49%, Romney 45%.
Reuters/Ipsos: Obama 48%, Romney 43%.
Gallup: Obama 47%, Romney 46%
SurveyUSA/Braun: Obama 48%, Romney 45%
DailyKos/SEIU/PPP: Obama 50%, Romney 46%
Rasmussen: Romney 47%, Obama 45%
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll will be out tonight at 6:30 pm ET.
Democrats Now Favored to Retain Senate
Nate Silver‘s latest forecast has the odds of Democrats retining control of the U.S. Senate after November’s election — either by having at least 50 seats and the presidency, or 51 without it — have increased in recent weeks to a 70% chance.
“The trend toward Democrats is a relatively recent one. Part of the shift may reflect the bounce President Obama received from the Democratic convention… But our analysis also suggests that the Democratic advantage has probably been building over the past few weeks, and may not have any one root cause. Instead, Republicans risk death by a thousand cuts, with a gradual deterioration in their standing in several important races, and their inability to field optimal candidates in others.”
The Leading Man
Just out: The Leading Man: Hollywood and the Presidential Image by Burton W. Peretti.
Court Says Groups Can Keep Donors Secret
A federal appeals court “overturned a lower court decision that could have forced the disclosure of the donors behind some of the secret money groups flooding the airwaves with attack ads,” Politico reports.
Keeping the Story Alive
Mark Halperin notes Mitt Romney’s decision not to apologize for his remarks on a hidden camera video “will be applauded on talk radio all day. It also keeps the story alive.”
“Speaking of which, the White House and the re-elect have many, many creative and obvious ways to keep this story going for a good long while, some of which they have already discussed internally. Watch the President’s Letterman hit for clues.”
Meanwhile, Romney will respond to the leaked video on Fox News show at 4 p.m. ET.
Ranking the Swing States
Nate Silver evaluates the swing states to determine which are the most strategically important and finds ten which “could play an important role in the electoral calculus.”
The most important, along with the chance it will be the one that determines the next president:
Ohio (32%), Florida (20%), Virginia (9%), Colorado (9%), Wisconsin (9%), Iowa (6%), Pennsylvania (5%), Nevada (5%), New Hampshire (3%) and Michigan (1%).
