Why He's Hiding

CORE MESSAGE

Mitt Romney's hiding the truth -- so the American people don't remember who he really stands for.

Connect: We want honest leaders who say what they mean, especially when they're claiming to be on our side.

Define: Romney's hiding the truth from the American people, just like he's hiding his tax returns -- because the more voters learn what he'd do to our country, the more they know he's not on their side.

Illustrate: Romney's tax plan raises taxes on the middle class to cut them for the wealthy and his "jobs plan" would actually cause massive layoffs.

Broaden: He's even hiding his positions on issues that people have deeply-held beliefs about, like abortion -- and wants us to forget that he wanted America's auto industry to fail and insulted half of Americans as irresponsible victims.

Discredit: It's no wonder Americans trust President Obama more than Romney on the big issues and say Obama cares more about the middle class and ordinary Americans.

Call out: The American people are on to him. Romney needs to come clean.

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ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

ROMNEY: "I said we should take Detroit bankrupt, and that's right. I wanted the company to come out stronger. Obama actually did take the auto industry bankrupt."
RESPONSE:

• Actually, Romney wanted to take the auto companies into bankruptcy without providing them with any way to stay open. Remember this was back in 2008, when our economy was in free fall and the private financing that Romney's plan would've required was impossible to get.
• So when America's automakers were teetering on the brink, Romney's plan would have pushed them over -- along with the jobs of a million Americans.
• In contrast, President Obama made the right call and saved more than a million autoworkers from being laid off. Now Detroit's automakers are hiring and selling so many cars they're racing to keep up.

ATTACK: "Those ads saying Mitt Romney would ban all abortions seemed a bit extreme -- they're not true."

RESPONSE:

• It's no wonder Romney's trying so hard to hide his position on an issue of such deeply-held beliefs like abortion.
• He said he would be "delighted" to sign a bill to not allow any abortions "at all, period" and that he's "going to get rid of" Planned Parenthood.
• Since Romney and Ryan say "our position's unified" on abortion, we can look to his team's position, too: Redefine rape so that victims are forced to have their rapist's child as their husbands are forced to sit by.
• There's a reason why Mitt Romney's hiding his true positions from the American people. The more voters learn what he'd do to our country, the more they know he's not on their side.

ROMNEY: "I will create 12 million jobs."
RESPONSE:

• Actually, the American people are set to create 12 million jobs in the next four years under Obama's policies -- without Romney doing anything.
• Even if you try to take Romney's plan at face value, it turns out that his jobs numbers don't add up -- he's citing studies that are unrelated to his claims and taking credit for Obama's policies.
• But if we do let Romney put his own plans in place, experts warn that we could be looking at massive layoffs of our teachers, firefighters, and cops -- and even another recession.
• So Romney's doubling down on trickle down, which led to the worst job growth since WWII but did make the richest few even richer. Let's remember that we tried it their way and it didn't work. Why repeat it?

ROMNEY: "I'm not trying to cut taxes for the wealthy. I'm trying to cut taxes for the middle class."
RESPONSE:

• Actually, Romney let the truth slip by when he admitted he will cut taxes for "the top one percent."
• Let's also remember how Romney complained behind closed doors that half of America are irresponsible dependents who don't pay taxes and that his 10% federal tax rate is "fair" because that's how the economy trickles down jobs.
• No wonder his tax plan would make you pay more so the richest few can pay less. It's as if Romney thinks struggling people aren't struggling enough and our middle class isn't already bearing enough of the burden.
• It's basic arithmetic -- the numbers in Romney's tax plan only work if he raises taxes on the middle class. And that's just what independent study after study has shown.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

• According to a new study of Twitter users responding to the presidential debates, the public is taking greater notice of Mitt Romney's lies -- 35% of people's opinions about Romney's honesty said he was lying and 0% said he was telling the truth. Almost all of the remaining opinions were neutral observations about fact-checking.
• Polling shows that voters trust President Obama over Mitt Romney to better handle the economy, taxes, Medicare and health care, foreign policy and the situation in the Middle East; to look out for the middle class and connect with ordinary Americans; to be a good Commander-in-Chief; to be a strong leader and work with leaders from the other party; and to be honest and truthful.
• Here are additional messaging resources: His Own Words Against Him; Debate Debrief: Romney vs. The Truth; Flip Flops, Fibs, and Fast Ones.

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.