Video: Obama: Economy will determine election outcome

>> let me bring in strategist jimmy williams and real clear politics reporter, erin , thank you both. erin , let me start with you. we'll hit on the fact yesterday the president was with a younger group of women . barnard college , toward get out there and get their first jobs. the audience watching the view, women already programs in the work force , struggling to get back in or watching their husband or significant other maybe out of work as well. the strategy, two days in a row, hitting up the women .

>> he is. and of course, president obama needs to win women in order to win the election. he needs to win them by a big margin. he would have been them in 2008 . but in order to beat mitt romney , who is winning men, the president needs to win women in battleground states specifically. you see him targeting suburban women in all the battleground states . they're using barack obama on the campaign trail. very effectively to talk about the couple's personal struggles and how they relate as parents, as people who had student loans eight years ago. inle ways, they're targeting their message on a family oriented basis.

>> and jimmy, the president talked about same sex marriage after being asked about the question but he seemed to want to stay on the economy. let me play what he had to say.

>> there are some very stark differences, legitimate differences between the candidates and between the parties in terms of how we are going to make sure that everybody in this country gets a fair shot. every kid is getting a great education. how we create businesses, how we create more jobs. that ultimate lay will be what determines how this election goes.

>> he is trying the line in this soft venue. not because it is geared toward women but a more casual chat so you can lay these facts out. the distinguished differences between the two.

>> the president looks very relatable. when you see him in this sort of a setting, he is doing something remarkably interesting. he is to mothers. mothers matter. mothers swing elections. we all know this. women 30 to 50 are the women that made the difference when's it -- they have the last three elections. the last three election cycles. but also, he said something about fairness. the fairness equation. what do moms do? they talk about being fair. they tell this to their daughters and sons. women will make this election. and i completely agree with erin . the theory of what women do in battle ground states, north carolina , ohio , virginia, florida, wisconsin, minnesota, those are the states that matter and don't think for a second that the obama campaign has a micro targeted literally by the block exactly where those women are and how to get them out. that was a very good thing to do.

>> i want to talk about mitt romney releasing his speech early. he is expected to speak in about an hour. let me bring in courtney hazelet. courtney was in the audience when they taped this "view" yesterday. you were trying to gauge the audience. what did you see on the screen?

>> what you do see is this very friendly not hostile at all environment for him to be relatable. as people are shuffling in and out, being inconvenienced by the long waits and securities, you have a jovial crowd who is saying, i might not agree with obama 's politics but i love the fact that i got to see this side of him. one of the other things that he discussed on the show was volunteering to coach his daughters' basketball team . about how michelle obama doesn't let him get away with anything. all these things.

>>> have the title 9 .

>> he brought up the anniversary of title 9 and how important that was and how at the end of the day , all these different things contribute to what he sees as the big goal and that is if you live in america , no matter what you look like, you have a fair shake. that's what comes across, no matter what you thought of him going into these tapings.

>> that's what you read from some of the people that you had a chance to talk to.

>> that's what people were saying. leaving the show. and it doesn't hurt that this is an environment where gets to be charismatic and he doesn't have to go along with the speech and have a big crowd. it is just about 200 people. an intimate setting.

>> let me bring in what mitt romney is saying. a different setting but nonetheless, the route he has chosen today. part of speech that has been released. mr. romney , governor romney will say a prairie fire of debt is sweeping across iowa and our nation. and our first read team points out the contrast here. iowa has a 5.2, i believe, unemployment rate which is basically one of the lowest, if not the lowest. so you're making this argument in an area or a part of the country that certainly is not suffering like michigan, for example.

>> exactly. and it is a bit of a pivot. not only does iowa have this lower unemployment rate . so does new hampshire. so does ohio where some of the obama policies like the auto bailout have helped workers in ohio . they've lowered the unemployment rate . he has to pivot to talk about debt. honestly, tamron, is a good issue for him. in massachusetts when he was governor, he started out with a $3 billion deficit and he moved that to a $2 billion surplus. so as the economy slowly recovers and opportunity employment rate goes down, he has to shift a little bit to talk about the deficit and the debt in order to have a good contrast against the president.

>> another excerpt from the speech. today america faces another financial debt and what it means to be american. here in the heartland, you know your heart, that is wrong. we can spend another four years talking about solving a problem that we can only make worse every day. he is talking about the heart and what you know. this is contrasted against that powerful ad released by team obama . now being put up in a number of battleground states by his super pac where you see the heart of america , a guy who work at the steel mill saying mitt romney and his company came in and they tore us apart and left us with nothing. with that said, how long can everything with this message as opposed to directly hitting the bain capital problem that hovers over his head and that also helped newt gingrich put up a good fight in south carolina , your home state.

>> right. a year ago all we talk about was debt, debt, debt. and for a long while now, we have not talked about that. here it comes back. this is not happen stance. this is a pretty good message for mitt romney . what do women have to do every single day when they get home? they have to look at their checkbooks. go online, balance the budgets and make sure they have enough money to go to the grocery store. especially single moms. this is a smart ploy. contrast that --

>> but he is not doing well polling with single moms.

>> he's not. but he sees this as an opening. i think it is a slender opening but if he can thread the needle, it is a smart way to go. compare that to the obama campaign , the bain capital thing. i happen to think that that was a bit, i don't like that ad.

>> you might not like it but some see it as being effective and will he have to come out.

>> it goes back to the fairness issue.

>> nam out in this new usa today gallup poll showing one year later, 58% of the people out there believe the economy will be in a good situation and a good place, jimmy.

>> that's good. in the sense, we all think in one year we're in a better place . we thought that a year ago and we are. it is just not happening fast enough. that is that same, that's where romney has that window. that small sliver of a window. debt. we're not where we should be. obama made it worse, et cetera , et cetera . i don't know that it is a great message, especially if the economy continues to pick up.

>> speaking of best message, left me pivot back to courtney as well as erin , since we're talking about female voters here and an effective way to reach this group will make a difference. does romney need to go and show a lighter side on "the view" while weaving in a message of, i can fix this economy.

>> i think it is essential. mitt romney has been on the view but it was part of a book tour. it wasn't any environment like what obama had yesterday. he has to go on the view on, those morning shows . he has done the cop ten list on letterman but even that is not the right, to hit this type of audience that will be so essential.

>> does he need to? what does the show say? show a little side of the view or something? you need to show that point of view?

>> i think so. but the romney campaign wants to keep the focus on the president and his record. they're trying not to get so much into mitt romney and his personal side. sure, they'll show ann romney .

>> but not telling stories about how it was growing up but being able to talk about the economy as the president did today in that forum. not taking the substance out of it. i'm not saying going to how, what i ate for lunch yesterday but talking about the economy in a more, i guess, warm environment if that makes sense.

>> and how it relates back to him and his family. and i tried to ask the campaign this today. in the last couple of days. i haven't gotten a response really yet. the president keeps using his daughters. malia and sasha to talk about their aspirational goals. he talks about michelle and their own struggles as a family. he talks about life as a parent. what it is like to raise kids in this economy. he is doing fine at a president. he does speak in personal material where mitt romney doesn't. will we see him do it? he might have to. that's where the likability gap is between barack obama and mitt romney . barack obama talks about his personal life in many ways and mitt romney just doesn't.

>> what you're doing, even if you don't delve into those more deeply personal shows, what you're could go by going on these shows is getting an audience who is not watching town hall meetings . they're not necessarily watching cable news. they might have the tv on while doing something with the kids or straightening up. it is a completely different set of people. and that's yith it is essential regardless of what he talks about. you're going to get in front of people you would not have gotten in front of otherwise.

>> thank you so much. great

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