Afternoon Fix: Romney favorability falling in Pew polls

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	Thursday, August 2, 2012

EARLIER ON THE FIX

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

* After rising from March to June as Republicans rallied around him, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's image has slipped over the past month in Pew polling of registered voters. Voters now view him negatively by a 52 to 37 percent margin. Obama is viewed positively by a 50 to 45 percent margin. The same poll has Obama beating Romney 51 to 41 percent, a wider lead than other recent surveys, although in swing states that narrows to a four-point lead.

* House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a Fox News radio interview today that President Obama has "never even had a real job, for Christ's sake" and that "I can tell you from my dealings with him, he has no idea how the real world, that we actually live in, works." (Boehner, for what its worth, worked in the plastics industry before becoming a congressman.)

* Rafalca "thrilled me to death" with her Olympic dressage performance, Ann Romney said today. "She was consistent and elegant." Romney watched the horse she co-owns from the VIP section; she won't know if the horse (and rider Jan Ebeling) advance to the Grand Prix Special until tomorrow.

* "Women's issues are front and center as they should be," President Obama told the female bloggers at BlogHer today. "But the conversation has been oversimplified a bit. Anyone who has spent time at your conference would realize that women are not a monolithic bloc, not an interest group."

WHAT YOU SHOULDN'T MISS

* A day after coming out with his first ad, a positive spot, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is going negative. And how. He identifies Rep. Connie Mack (R) as "a promoter for Hooters with a history of barroom brawling, altercations and road rage." The hits on Mack's debt, attendance record, and vote for the Ryan budget seem almost tame by comparison.

* Romney touted a five-point plan for the middle-class in Colorado today. The policies are not new, but now he is aggressively selling them around the country. He also came out with a "report card" to judge Obama by his 2008 promises. And he met with McKayla Hicks, a survivor of the Aurora shooting. "We love you and we pray for you," he said of the victims.

* The Maine state GOP is headed to war over an attempt to purge Ron Paul supporters from the state's convention delegation. Two Romney supporters filed a challenge to 14 Paul-backing delegates; in response, 23 members are calling for a special meeting.

* Rick Gorka, the Romney campaign spokesman who shouted at reporters in Poland, is "taking some time off the trail," an aide tells ABC News. Meanwhile, Romney's campaign blames the Associated Press for making the candidate's comments about Israeli and Palestinian culture into a controversy.

THE FIX MIX

If you haven't seen enough gymnastics. If you haven't seen enough gymnastics.

With Rachel Weiner and Aaron Blake.



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