Jobs Are People, My Friend

CORE MESSAGE

Moving forward means putting more people back to work.

Connect: Times are still tough, but we're Americans -- we stick together and press ahead no matter the challenge.

Define: Moving forward means putting more people back to work -- and leaders putting the American people ahead of themselves.

Illustrate: That's why we need leaders fighting for working people as if 100,000 more Americans back on the job last month isn't good enough.

Explain: It's not about numbers. It's about the fathers and mothers still pounding the pavement, the seniors still working instead of enjoying retirement, and the college grads aspiring to make something of themselves.

Contrast: Mitt Romney says "corporations are people, my friend."

Discredit: Jobs are people, my friend. We don't run this country for corporations, we run it for people.

Bottom line: Which guy do you want for president: The guy who sticks up for middle class people, or the guy who sticks it to middle class people?

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ANNIVERSARY NOT TO BE MISSED

Explain: A year ago President Obama sent his American Jobs Act to Congress to put more than two million Americans back to work rebuilding our country. But the Republicans in Washington, led by Congressman Paul Ryan, blocked it.

Expose: As they plotted since day one of Obama's presidency, Republican politicians are trying to keep millions off the job just to put one man out of work.

LATEST ZINGERS NOT TO BE MISSED

The Republican approach: "Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!" --President Obama

"You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can't visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally."  --President Obama

"We're about promoting the private sector. They're about protecting the privileged sector." --Vice President Joe Biden 

"Ask bin Laden if he is better off now than he was four years ago." --Sen. John Kerry

"It isn't fair to say Mitt Romney doesn't have a position on Afghanistan. He has every position." --Sen. John Kerry

"Romney's new favorite tax haven is actually not the Cayman Islands -- it's Paul Ryan's budget." --Sen. Chuck Schumer

"Mitt Romney's only bottom line is the one at the end of his own bank statement." --Sen. Chuck Schumer

"In Romney's world, the cars get the elevator; the workers get the shaft." --Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm

"Mitt Romney is a good neighbor, if you live in his neighborhood." --Mika Brzezinski

ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

ATTACK: "Obama can't say the American people are better off than four years ago."
RESPONSE:

• Here's the Republican argument against the President's re-election in a nutshell: we left him a total mess, he hasn't cleaned it up fast enough, so fire him and put us back in.
• Are we better off than we were when the President inherited an economy in free fall, losing almost a million jobs each month? The answer is yes.
• But are we where we want to be? No. Is the President satisfied? No. He'd be the first to say that Americans are still struggling and we have to do more and keep moving forward.
• We should be asking who do we want to be as Americans and what kind of a future do we want for America -- and moving forward means putting more people back to work.

We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.