In this Washington Watch snapshot:

• It Is Not About Them
• The Presidential Race
• Romney Hits on 3rd of 3
• The Perils of Turnout
• The Match Race Unemployment/Right Direction-Wrong Track
• The President
• The Congress

A page-by-page printable version of this snapshot is also available here.

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The Schedule

25 days until the election

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It's Not About Them

It is the natural instinct of most candidates, and their most dedicated followers, to come to behave and believe that the campaign is about them, the candidate. After all, a losing candidate carries the personal burden of the loss long after most others have forgotten the race.

The reality is that the campaign is not about them, the candidate. It is about the hundreds or millions of people whose lives will be affected for better or for worse long after election day.

This is certainly the case in 2012. Whether it’s Mitt Romney or Barack Obama, whomever is elected on November 6th will have an extra-ordinary impact on millions of Americans. Both men would do well to keep that reality in mind.

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The primary thrust of the Obama campaign has been to diminish Mitt Romney. Little attention has been paid by the campaign to messaging about the future and what voters can expect in a second Obama term. Until October 3rd and the first debate, that strategy appeared to be working. Since the debate, however, that strategy is open to question.

Impact of First Debate

Mitt Romney had three chances to change the dynamic of the Presidential contest. The first two chances, the announcement of his V.P. candidate and his national convention speech, did not do the trick.

The first debate was Mitt Romney’s third and last chance to change the dynamic of the contest and he scored. He scored with an audience that was the largest for a first Presidential debate since 1980, when Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan debated a single time.

CNN’s post-debate survey of registered voters had Romney winning by 67% to 25%. A CBS post debate poll of “undecided voters” resulted in a Romney win of 46% to 22%.

Perhaps the most important impact of the debate was on the morale of the Romney campaign team. No matter how professional and experienced a person or group may be, morale craters when your campaign has had a month like the Romney campaign has had. (I know, I have been there more than once.) The debate performance will give the team a new lease on life or, as one commentator noted, at least the perception thereof.

Various “fact check” sources opined that Obama and Romney both played a bit fast and loose with the “facts.”

For whatever the reason, the President made clear that he was not particularly interested in being there or in really engaging in the contest. It was as if Obama did not care what the interested public thought about him or his performance in the last four years. A number of media analysts reminded folks that Obama’s debate performance in 2008 was nothing to write home about.

Romney, to his credit, pulled himself up by his suspenders, and came to the podium with a plan which he implemented.

Part of the just acclaim given to Romney and the disappointment with the President resulted from the fact that, in advance of the debate, a strong majority believed that Obama would win. [Gallup]

There has been some expectation that Romney would make a turn on his substantive positions, beginning with the Republican convention. The expectation was that he would move toward the center. That did not happen at the convention, but instead with the first debate. Romney’s positions have become increasingly moderate, and conservatives are looking the other way. They have a greater interest in beating Obama than in whether Romney is “pure.”

Now the pressure is on Vice President Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan as they enter the “cage” on October 11th.

The chart below is based on Gallup data. (Keep in mind that the Gallup number is based on a rolling 7 day average.)

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Who will come on election day

As with all potentially close elections, it comes down to voter turnout. So far, the general public interest is lagging the level of interest at this same time in 2008 and 2004. However, the largest drops seem to be among those who heavily favor Obama, those 18-34 years of age and Hispanics.

When identifying “likely voters,” the NBC/WSJ survey looks at three pieces of data. The survey uses a ten-point scale reflecting interest in the election, voting history, and the age of the respondent.

Using only the ten-point scale, on which a score of 10 or 9 is treated as sufficient interest in the election to make a person likely to vote, here is a look at potential voter interest in 2012, 2008 and 2004 at roughly the same time in the election season.

Interest in voting on behalf of Romney voters is running ahead of McCain in 2008 and about even with Bush in 2004. Interest in voting by Obama voters is running well behind Obama in 2008 and Kerry in 2004.

Even more dramatic for Obama, only 52% of those 18-34 years of age show a strong interest in the 2012 election. That is 21 points behind where they were in 2008, and 19 points behind where they were in 2004. Only 59% of Hispanic voters are showing a strong interest in the election compared to 77% in 2008.

Percentage scoring a 9 or 10 on the question of their interest in the election



* The NBC/WSJ was not in the field in 2004 at a time similar to the timing of its late September 2012 and early October 2008 surveys. The 2004 number in the chart above is the average of two NBC/WSJ surveys ending on September 16 and October 18, 2004. Set out below are the individual results of those surveys.

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The PEW survey approaches this issue in a slightly different manner. It asks “How much thought have you given to the coming election? Quite a lot or a little?”

However, there is a substantial difference in how Romney and Obama supporters respond. A spread in Romney’s favor of 4 % points in September has grown to 15 % points post-debate. In September, 73% of Romney supporters and 69% of Obama supporters said they had given quite a lot of thought to the election. Post-debate, the percentage of Romney supporters grew from 73% to 82%. The percentage of Obama supporters fell from 69% to 67%.

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The Race

The following are survey results from media-related polling organizations, Gallup and PEW. [WW tends to find them more consistently reliable. This is not to say that all non-media sources are not reliable. Polls like Democracy Corps and Resurgent Republican are examples of non-media surveys that WW finds to be reliable. However, the slant of some non-media sources – left and right – leave something to be desired. When it comes to State polls, it is sometimes necessary to reference polls that do not meet basic standards.]

[As is often the case, Charlie Cook has a special way of describing a plethora of polls – national and State – whose methodology, etc. is suspect. He refers to them as CRAP – Computer Response Attitudinal Polls. ]

And, since this is the season when the focus should be on “likely voters,” registered voter numbers are listed separately. Certain surveys are testing both registered and likely voters in the same survey, and they will be listed in the separate sections.

The most dramatic shift reflected in the post-debate PEW survey, which found Romney leading Obama by 49% to 45% among likely voters, is the change among women. In mid-September, Obama led Romney among likely women voters by 15 % points. Now, with this group, the race is dead even at 47%.

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Below is a chart of the 9 States which are described as the battleground States. North Carolina is new to this list since the last Watch. Obama won them all in 2008. Bush won 7 of them in 2004 and 7 of them in 2000. As opposed to the national match race, the availability of reliable Presidential campaign polling on a State-by-State basis is quite modest. There are only a few with which WW is comfortable. The following should be read with that caveat in mind.

Obama leads marginally or better in each of these States at the present time, but in only 3 of them is he at 50% or better.




Approval/Disapproval Ratings are from Gallup Daily Tracking

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The Electoral College

Here are cuts at the Electoral College that WW will regularly reprint as we head toward the Presidential election. 270 Electoral votes are needed to win.

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InTrade Prediction Market

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Unemployment

The unemployment rate for September was 7.8%. This is the same as it was in January 2009, when Barack Obama took office. The unemployment rate hit 10% later that year and has been above 8.0% ever since.

Ordinarily, the unemployment rate would be the story of the moment, but currently it is being overshadowed by the continuing story of the first debate.



* Seasonally adjusted rate/Bureau of Labor Statistics

** Gallup combines an unadjusted unemployed rate with those who are working part-time but want full-time employment.

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Right Direction / Wrong Track

Over the last three months the percentage of Americans who say the country is going in the right direction has jumped from 30% to 40%. And the number saying the country is on the wrong track has dropped from 64% to 53%.

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President Obama

The President’s job approval rating in Gallup on October 9 was 53% approval and 42% disapproval.

The following are several additional cuts at the President’s job approval rating during 2012. With the exception of CNN/ORC surveys in March and September the President’s approval rating has topped out at the 50% mark.

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Americans continue to rate Obama negatively on the economy, with 51% disapproving and 46% approving. On foreign policy, 49% approve of the job Obama is doing; 46% disapprove of his performance. This is identical to the rating he received earlier in the month. [NBC/WSJ 9/3012]

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A Partial Picture of Obama’s Tenure

The following is a series of markers of Obama’s time in office as of October 8, 2012. [FactCheck.Org/Annenberg Public Policy Center]

* Unemployment , 7.8% (Same as it was the month he took office)
* S&P 500, +81%
* Manufacturing Index, +48%
* Consumer Confidence Index, +86%
* Total Federal Debt, +52%
* Debt Held by the Public, +79%
* Real Household Income, -5%
* Real Family Income, -5%
* Persons in poverty, + 6.4 million
* Food Stamp Recipients, +46%
* Regular Gasoline Prices, +106%
* Petroleum Imports, -23%
* Annual Handgun Production, +68%

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The Congress

In mid-September 13% approved of the job that Congress is doing at this time. This is the lowest number recorded at this point in an election year going back to 1974.

It is not clear to what extent votes cast in the Presidential contest affect voting behavior down the ballot for the Senate, the House or for State and local offices.

The U.S. Senate

• Democrats 51
• Republicans 47
• Independents 2 (caucus Dem)

In the last Watch, control of the Senate appeared to depend on the races in Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Wisconsin. To that group North Carolina is now added.

The number of Safe & Leaning Democratic seats is 17. The number of Toss Ups has moved from 8-10, and the number of Safe & Leaning GOP seats has dropped to 6.

Arizona and Indiana, which had been previously rated as Leaning Republican, are now rated as Toss Ups, and Nebraska, which had been rated as Leaning Republican, has now moved to Safe Republican.

Among the Toss Ups, 4 are currently held by Republicans and 6 are held by Democrats.

Assuming that Safe and Leaning Democratic seats end up that way after election day, the Democrats need to win 4 of the Toss Up States to have an actual majority, or 3 to gain a majority with the vote of the Vice President.

However, so many of the races are so close that, while the odds might seem to favor Democratic control of that body, it is not hard to see a path for Republican control of the Senate, perhaps with the help of a new Vice President.

Here is how the 33 Senate elections, made up of 23 Democratic incumbents (including 2 Independents) and 10 Republican incumbents, look to me at this time. (D=Dem incumbent in office, R=GOP incumbent in office, I=Ind. incumbent in office). Italic reflects retirement.

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The House of Representatives

Continued Republican control of the House is not in doubt. On the face of the current composition of the body, it would appear to require 25 new Democratic members. In fact, since up to 10 sitting Democrats may lose their seats, the real number is closer to 35. It is not unrealistic that the Democrats might pick up a net 5 or 6 seats.

By 47% to 46%, registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate in their district if the election was held today. In the fall of 2011 the preference was Democratic by 51 to 44%. In March and August it was even at 47% to 47%, essentially as it is now. [Gallup]

The chart below reflects the Cook Political Report’s current Competitive House Race Chart through October 5, 2012. [Thanks to “The Cook Political Report.”]

• Republicans 242
• Democrats 193

“The Rothenberg Political Report” has also posted a report that deals with the entire House. [Thanks to the Rothenberg Report.]