Is “Moderate Mitt” a Myth?

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Yesterday Bill Clinton mocked the less conservative, more measured version of Mitt Romney who showed up at Wednesday’s debate with a new nickname. “I thought, ‘Wow, here’s old Moderate Mitt. Where ya been, boy? I missed ya all these last two years.'”

It’s true that Romney took a deliberately more moderate tone on Wednesday. But did he really seem more moderate to the average voter watching the debate? John Sides brings the data and says no: The circled dots on the chart below indicate public perception of Romney before and after the debate, and they show no difference. If he won the debate, it was due more to energy and focus than to the emergence of Romney 3.0. More at the link.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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