Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney plans to talk up some specifics of his economic proposals as he enters a critical period of his campaign and tries to erase a small lead that President Barack Obama has built in the polls.
Romney's challenge is to keep it close until the campaign goes into its conclusive phase next month, when he and Obama met on October 3 for the first of three presidential debates that will dominate the final weeks leading up to the November 6 election.
In a race defined by the weakness of the US economy, Romney needs to convince voters that they can trust him as the Obama campaign tries to raise doubts about the economic proposals he has offered, such as what government programs would he cut and how he would pay for a 20 percent across-the-board tax cut. To that end, Romney advisers say the former Massachusetts governor plans this week to talk up the specifics of each of the five central points of his economic message: beefing up energy production and trade, improving education, cutting government spending and helping small businesses by, among other things, reducing regulations.
"We are, starting Monday, going to hammer on each aspect of the Romney plan for a stronger middle class," a senior Romney adviser said.