>>> i am chuck todd . let's get to the first reads of the morning. in the last two weeks, we polled in nine battleground states deciding the election. ohio , florida , virginia , colorado , iowa , wisconsin, north carolina , nevada , new hampshire . bad news for mitt romney , he doesn't lead in a single one. at best within the poll's margin of error. at worst, trails by eight points. this morning, how the nine states stack up. we said it again and again. the president's job approval rating may be the best indicator of where the bout may be. where it is more than 50, the president favored to win. iowa , florida , new hampshire , ohio , virginia , his approval rating below that, 47 or 48 in four. colorado , nevada , north carolina , wisconsin. here is a second way to breakdown the numbers. romney struggled with favorability number all year. that number underwater, more voters have unfavorable than favorable view in six states. romney is in positive territory in just three. florida , north carolina , virginia . finally, a third bucket of looking at these numbers in the extent of romney 's problems. for months, romney led on who could better handle the economy. in four more, he trails the president. colorado , iowa , new hampshire , ohio . tied at 45 in virginia . there are three states that the president hits the 49% mark, leads on the economy, and romney 's favorability. consider those romney 's problem states. one state where romney wins on the economy, right side up favorability rating and where the president's job approval is below 49, north carolina , which is why the state seems to lean, everybody thinks at the end of the day romney gets to 50 before the president. as the poll out this morning shows , it is a razor tight race. the president up two among likely voters, 48-46. in nevada , leads by two. new hampshire , leads by seven points. romney launched his presidential campaign there and has a summer home there. we will see. we have three more polls, state polls and big three next week before the debate, a national poll coming out, but you see the environment. one other interesting note on polling, if you average the nine states together in the various leads, almost looks identical to the national polls. five and a half point lead for the president, 49, 44 with rounding, which of course is where all the national polls sit around five points for the president. romney starts his morning in a state that hasn't been able to put into play, pennsylvania. he will speak to veterans at valley forge military academy in a philadelphia suburb. only public event of the day. he will be fund-raising in philadelphia, probably the motivation why he is in philly. slew of national polls show how damaging romney 's remark on the 47% has been to his campaign. the most recent national polls trails the president by 5 to 8 points. instead of punching a national message, romney seems to be making the parochial argument. yesterday in virginia , warned an american legion audience that devastating job losses were coming if congress and the president go through with the defense cuts called sequestration.
>> the impact will be immediate and significant here in virginia . 136,000 jobs will be lost in virginia as a result of this move.
>> and though romney wanted to focus on defense cuts, he couldn't avoid questions on the 47% comment. he was forced to defend himself in a series of local television interviews.
>> is there a clarification you would offer to voters about what you meant?
>> my campaign is about 100% of americans. my whole effort in running for president is to help those people that are struggling the most. this campaign and frankly my presidency if i become president is about helping people in the middle class have a better chance of making ends meet.
>> of course, the president is hammering romney on the 47% remark. he is on the air with the third ad on the comment and it is brutal. it is the second time the president put out an ad narrated by romney . the first was america the beautiful ad. look at the new one.
>> 47% of the people will vote for the president no matter what, they believe they're victims, believe that government has responsibility to care for them, who believe they're entitled.
>> the president making his 13th campaign stop in virginia , rallied thousands in virginia beach and has a new line.
>> during campaign season, you hear a lot about patriotism. well, you know what, it's time for a new economic patriotism . an economic patriotism rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class .
>> on one hand, obama 's idea, economic patriotism appears to be selling tax hikes on the wealthy, more government spending on infrastructure, also the centerpiece of a new tv ad that has the feel of a campaign closing argument .
>> it is time for a new economic patriotism , rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong, thriving middle class .
>> but don't let it escape you that this economic patriotism line is also an implicit hit on romney . we first hird it from ted strickland during his speech which was a rough one at the democratic convention .
>> mitt has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. it summers on the beaches of the came and islands and winters on the slopes of the swiss alps .
>> when it comes to next wednesday's debate, both are trying to prove their candidate will be the least articulate gap prone guy on stage.
>> the president is an eloquent, gifted speaker, he will do just fine.
>> mitt romney has an advantage, he has been through 20 debates in the primaries in the last year.
>> barack obama is an effective debater.
>> governor romney has been practicing for months. i think the invasion of normandy took less preparation than he is putting into the debates.
>> hasn't had a debate against a democrat in over ten years i guess it would be probably 2002 .
>> i have never been in a presidential debate like this, it will be a new experience.
>> is your head spinning? expectations came at a fevered pitch. yesterday afternoon we got memos. first one was a memo from romney senior adviser beth myers that couldn't stop praising the president. president obama is a universely aclaimed public speaker. voters already believe by a 25 point margin that president obama is likely to do a better job in the debates, given president obama 's natural gifts and extensive seasoning under the bright lights of the debate stage. this morning, the obama campaign countered with its memo. senior adviser david axelrod . we expect mitt romney to be prepared disciplined and aggressive debater. governor pawlenty said he is as good as it gets in debating. maybe this is why the romney campaign predicted he will turn in a campaign changing performance such as ronald reagan 's in 1980 . here is the truth about obama and romney , neither a stellar debater. obama didn't shine in the democratic primary debates, biden won them. that's why obama picked biden . candidate obama had a tendency to ramble in the debates, got better during mccain one on ones. while romney did well in this season's gop debates, had rough performances, bet you $10,000 he did. romney performances, the unspoken body language that the camera captured, they were brutal against ted kennedy . ivy league will enjoy biden versus ryan
>> the impact will be immediate and significant here in virginia . 136,000 jobs will be lost in virginia as a result of this move.
>> and though romney wanted to focus on defense cuts, he couldn't avoid questions on the 47% comment. he was forced to defend himself in a series of local television interviews.
>> is there a clarification you would offer to voters about what you meant?
>> my campaign is about 100% of americans. my whole effort in running for president is to help those people that are struggling the most. this campaign and frankly my presidency if i become president is about helping people in the middle class have a better chance of making ends meet.
>> of course, the president is hammering romney on the 47% remark. he is on the air with the third ad on the comment and it is brutal. it is the second time the president put out an ad narrated by romney . the first was america the beautiful ad. look at the new one.
>> 47% of the people will vote for the president no matter what, they believe they're victims, believe that government has responsibility to care for them, who believe they're entitled.
>> the president making his 13th campaign stop in virginia , rallied thousands in virginia beach and has a new line.
>> during campaign season, you hear a lot about patriotism. well, you know what, it's time for a new economic patriotism . an economic patriotism rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong and thriving middle class .
>> on one hand, obama 's idea, economic patriotism appears to be selling tax hikes on the wealthy, more government spending on infrastructure, also the centerpiece of a new tv ad that has the feel of a campaign closing argument .
>> it is time for a new economic patriotism , rooted in the belief that growing our economy begins with a strong, thriving middle class .
>> but don't let it escape you that this economic patriotism line is also an implicit hit on romney . we first hird it from ted strickland during his speech which was a rough one at the democratic convention .
>> mitt has so little economic patriotism that even his money needs a passport. it summers on the beaches of the came and islands and winters on the slopes of the swiss alps .
>> when it comes to next wednesday's debate, both are trying to prove their candidate will be the least articulate gap prone guy on stage.
>> the president is an eloquent, gifted speaker, he will do just fine.
>> mitt romney has an advantage, he has been through 20 debates in the primaries in the last year.
>> barack obama is an effective debater.
>> governor romney has been practicing for months. i think the invasion of normandy took less preparation than he is putting into the debates.
>> hasn't had a debate against a democrat in over ten years i guess it would be probably 2002 .
>> i have never been in a presidential debate like this, it will be a new experience.
>> is your head spinning? expectations came at a fevered pitch. yesterday afternoon we got memos. first one was a memo from romney senior adviser beth myers that couldn't stop praising the president. president obama is a universely aclaimed public speaker. voters already believe by a 25 point margin that president obama is likely to do a better job in the debates, given president obama 's natural gifts and extensive seasoning under the bright lights of the debate stage. this morning, the obama campaign countered with its memo. senior adviser david axelrod . we expect mitt romney to be prepared disciplined and aggressive debater. governor pawlenty said he is as good as it gets in debating. maybe this is why the romney campaign predicted he will turn in a campaign changing performance such as ronald reagan 's in 1980 . here is the truth about obama and romney , neither a stellar debater. obama didn't shine in the democratic primary debates, biden won them. that's why obama picked biden . candidate obama had a tendency to ramble in the debates, got better during mccain one on ones. while romney did well in this season's gop debates, had rough performances, bet you $10,000 he did. romney performances, the unspoken body language that the camera captured, they were brutal against ted kennedy . ivy league will enjoy biden versus ryan