Obama, Romney: Dueling visions for America
There are only a few days left until Election Day. President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are making a final push in battleground states that may decide the election.
Each candidate are explaining how they will move America forward from high unemployment and rising deficits. As we go into the final weekend before Election Day, both presidential candidates wrote exclusive opinion pieces for CNN.com.
TAKING THE VOTING PLEDGE: I'm Voting
President Obama writes in his op-ed that the nation has climbed out of recession and war to face a future where everyone gets a fair shot, does his fair share and plays by the same rules.
In an op-ed written by Mitt Romney, he says he offers the nation "real change and a real choice" that would speed economic recovery.
Who has a better vision for America?
The audacity of Romney's Etch a Sketch
The Etch a Sketch was in full effect at the first presidential debate in Denver on Wednesday night.
Mitt Romney put forward a strong performance, transforming back into his 2002 Massachusetts moderate mold, a belated advocate of bipartisan leadership. It would have had a lot more impact if it hadn't contradicted almost every policy statement Romney has made on the campaign trail since he started running for president. This flip-flopping is a force of habit, but it was used to great effect, reflecting a campaign and a candidate finally focused on the general electorate.
President Obama, in turn, had an objectively weak debate. The president was more professor than preacher, a budget wonk getting lost in paragraphs of detail rather than concisely punching back. He fulfilled the political truism that incumbent presidents have bad first debates because they are comparatively unprepared and overburdened by budgets and other details of governing - as President Reagan did in his disastrous first 1984 debate.
The trick of communicating policy is to distill it to memorable concise concepts. That happened far too rarely, and when it did, it seemed to be off the cuff, winning Obama points for authenticity but few for debate prep.
GOP keeps social issues in the closet in 2012
The Obama campaign woke up to good news today with new polls in three swing states that has President Barack Obama exceeding 50% support among like voters. Obama also holds a lead of nine to 12 points over Republican opponent Mitt Romney.
Romney 'my heart aches' for those struggling
In his latest column for CNN.com, John Avlon discusses the absence of social issues from a party that stands for social conservatism, the GOP.
John Avlon is also a CNN contributor and member of the OutFront political strike team.
Romney foreign policy attack 'went too far', says John Avlon
At the outset of violent protests against U.S. compounds in the middle east, the Romney campaign criticized the Obama administration for appearing sympathetic to the perpetrators who started the violence. But, since the release of the Romney campaign's statement, the actual timeline of events suggest Romney was wrong in his accusation.
Obama vs. Romney: Foreign Policy Attacks Ramp Up
In his latest column for CNN.com, John Avlon says Romney went too far in trying to score 'petty political points with incomplete information.'
John Avlon is also a CNN contributor and member of the OutFront political strike team.
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