(Continued from page 36)

millions of dollars spent pushing an economic message on TV. Romney allies are urging him to find a message that will persuade disillusioned voters to give him a chance. They reject the notion that Romney is careening from topic to topic, despite recent emphases on Medicare and international leadership.
• Diverse advice is pouring into Romney's camp: Paint Obama as a weak leader at home and abroad; shift the focus firmly back to the economy; fire up the conservative base; concentrate on the relatively small number of undecided voters.
• Some of Romney's associates, including his running mate, say personality, not policy, may hold the key to reassuring wary voters.
• "I'm not the only one who has told Mitt that maybe he needs to talk more about himself and his life," Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's vice presidential nominee, told conservative activists Friday.
• The buttoned-down Romney has relatively little time to show a warmer, more assuring side to voters. Three presidential debates in October may offer his best chance.
• In the race to reach 270 electoral votes for victory, polls suggest Obama holds slight edges in the crucial states of Ohio, Florida, Virginia and New Hampshire. And internal polling by both campaigns shows close races in Colorado, Iowa and Nevada. Both sides agree that Romney is doing better in North Carolina, which Obama narrowly carried in 2008.
• The wild card might be Wisconsin, Ryan's home state, which Obama won by 14 percentage points over Arizona Sen. John McCain. Both campaigns are spending money there. Vice President Joe Biden visited Wisconsin on Thursday, and Obama is scheduled to go this coming week.
• Ohio and Florida are the most coveted toss-up states. Romney's election is not assured even if he wins both. A failure to carry either state would almost surely doom his chances.
• Obama's prospects in Ohio appear to have improved lately, perhaps because his rescue of the auto industry is generally popular. Still, Ohio Democrats are not celebrating.
• "We've seen plenty of examples of how dynamic these races are," said Greg Haas, Democratic chairman of Franklin County. "I don't think anyone on our side is, or should be, taking it easy."
• In Florida, the biggest battleground prize, Republicans worry that Romney can't seem to close the deal in a state hampered by high unemployment and home foreclosures. Democrats, however, fear Obama's edge in the state may be fleeting and they fret about Florida's undecided voters. They're also nervous about legal battles

(Continued on page 38)