MEMORANDUM

TO: FROM: RE: DATE:

Interested Parties Neil Newhouse, Romney for President Pollster State of the Race September 18, 2012

Yesterday, in an on-the-record conference call, Romney Senior Advisor Ed Gillespie briefed the press regarding the direction of the Romney campaign this week. I know that youre more than a little interested in the day-to-day activities of the campaign, so Ive excerpted some of the highlights of what Ed said to provide you a better sense of our messaging for the week and where we see the campaign now that weve gotten past the sugar high of the Democratic Convention. (Ive edited Eds remarks only for clarity, not content.) On the campaigns push this week to highlight specifics of the Romney Plan for a Stronger Middle Class: This push reflects our view that after a successful convention where voters learned a lot about Mitt Romney as a person, they're more eager to find details about his policies to turn our economy around and create twelve million jobs in his first term. Polls now show that Americans recognize Governor Romney has a plan to turn this economy around and they're open to hearing more from him on this front. By the way, thats not only true of Governor Romney; they are also curious about President Obama and what he would do during a second term if he is re-elected. They haven't heard many details from him or many policy proposals at all from him. We are looking forward to this new emphasis and this renewed emphasis on why electing Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan would result in better, higher takehome pay and more jobs in our economy.

Romney for President, Inc. | PO Box 149756, Boston, MA 02114-9756 | www.MittRomney.com

On the Governors speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: At the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event, the Governor is going to highlight that he is going to send back to the states a number of programs that have been growing uncontrollably fast, and that he will limit their funding to the rate of inflation, or in the case of Medicaid to inflation plus 1%. The Governor is also going to say that he will look to increase the productivity of Washington by reducing federal government employment by 10% through attrition and will combine agencies and departments to reduce overhead and link government compensation to that of the private sector. These things will result in about 500 billion dollars a year by the end of his first term. On the Middle East: Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan are going to continue to discuss the developments in the Middle East and the need for strong leadership both at home and abroad. Economic and foreign policy are both very important in this presidential campaign. On the economic news of the past week: When you look at the past week, Monday, the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that our budget deficit through August now stands at $1.17 trillion dollars, nearly $1.2 trillion dollars through August. It's the fourth straight trillion dollar deficit under this President. On Tuesday, the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that health insurance premiums rose yet again last year to nearly $16,000 per family. On Wednesday, we saw the Census Bureau report that more than 46 million Americans, nearly 1 in 6, are living in poverty. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve cited the lack of economic growth and job creation in announcing another unprecedented open-ended round to bail out our economy because of the failed policies of this administration. Also on Thursday we saw the number of Americans filing weekly jobless claims reach its highest level in two months. On Friday, initial industrial production declined more than expected, shrinking by the most in three years and confirming that manufacturing and other business activities are continuing to contract. And, of course, last week we saw the price of a gallon of gas average $3.85 a gallon, nearly two dollars higher than when President Obama took office. We think the American people are looking forward to hearing how we can turn our economy around. They're open to hearing our proposals on this front.

Romney for President, Inc. | PO Box 149756, Boston, MA 02114-9756 | www.MittRomney.com

On the Presidents Falling Poll Numbers: The post-convention economic news helps explain why the Presidents post-convention bounce is fading. You may have noticed that over the last week, the Rasmussen national survey has seen a seven point swing for Governor Romney from -5 to +2. There has been a four point gain in the Gallup tracking; Governor Romney has gone from down 7 to the President to down 3. Also, the Rasmussen swing state survey saw a four point swing from -2 to +2. And, if you look at polling in the swing states around the country we're looking at a dead heat virtually everywhere in the target states. We are very optimistic; we're spreading the playing field. Obviously, we're on the air in Wisconsin and I notice the President is going to be in Wisconsin, a state that he carried by 14 points in the last election. That tells you the nature of this campaign and the dynamic of this race. So, we are very much looking forward to talking about future proposals and how the future will be better under a Romney/Ryan administration rather than the administration of the last four years.

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Romney for President, Inc. | PO Box 149756, Boston, MA 02114-9756 | www.MittRomney.com