Ky-Cuong --
The first presidential debate is this Wednesday, and Mitt Romney has had a lot of practice.
In addition to the more than 20 primary debates he's done over the past year, his staff have told reporters that he's been preparing for the debate for months now. He's even been memorizing some "zingers" to attack the President and score political points.
Romney's allies are very confident that this strategy will work -- just yesterday, Governor Chris Christie said that Romney will do "extraordinarily well" in the debate and use it to "restart" the race.
My guess is that voters watching will be using a different scorecard -- not who can fire off the best one-liner, but who lays out a detailed plan to get the middle class thriving again. That's how President Obama sees this debate -- as an opportunity to talk about his specific plans to continue moving the country forward.
So before President Obama and Mitt Romney take the stage, take a look at some items we've put together on Romney's record -- both as a corporate buyout specialist and as a governor -- and his economic plans so that you have all the facts you need to tell your family and friends why he's not the right guy for the job.
#1 Ten things you need to know about Mitt Romney's business record Mitt Romney has based his candidacy for the presidency on his experience as a corporate buyout specialist. But a closer look at Romney's business record reveals a pattern of job loss, bankruptcies, and outsourcing -- a kind of economics that Americans just can't afford. Before the first debate, listen to middle class workers talk about what Romney economics meant for them, and check out ten facts you should know about Romney's tenure at Bain Capital. Make sure others know them, too:
#2 Ten things you need to know about Gov. Romney's Massachusetts record Ten years ago, Mitt Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts on his promise of more jobs, less debt, and smaller government. He left the state with the largest per capita debt in the nation and increased spending, and the state fell to 47th in job creation. At the debate, beware of Mitt Romney claiming that he cut taxes for middle class families 19 times as governor. In reality, Romney created or raised more than 1,000 taxes or fees during his four years as governor. Romney economics didn't work for Massachusetts, and it won't work for America. Check out this post about Romney's record as governor, and let others know about it:
#3 What you need to know about Romney's tax plan Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a big economic plan: Offer $X trillion in tax cuts weighted towards the wealthiest Americans without adding a penny to the deficit. According to Romney, they'd pay for it by closing loopholes and deductions for the wealthy. The problem is that the math doesn't add up, especially because they've taken measures that benefit the wealthy, like the loophole for carried interest and preferential treatment for investment income, off the table. Nonpartisan experts, including some of Romney's own outside economic advisers, have added it all up, and they say that in order to make the Romney-Ryan tax plan work, deductions that middle class families rely on -- like mortgage and child deductions -- will have to be cut, leading to a $X tax increase for the average middle class family with children. When Ryan was asked this weekend to explain how they'd actually pull this off, Ryan said, "I don't have the time. It would take me too long to go through all the math." But no amount of time would make that math work. Get the facts on Romney's tax plan, and share them with others:
Be sure to bookmark barackobama.com/debate, and visit it regularly over the next few weeks to get updates, fact checks, and information you can share with your friends and family about what's at stake this November.
You can also find the debate watch party nearest you -- where you'll be able to join Vice President Biden for an exclusive post-debate livestream.
Stephanie
P.S. -- We have a new tool out today that lets you see how your community is better off thanks to President Obama. Take a look at the map of all the job-creation projects supported by this administration in your area, and be sure to tell others about them, too.	
 Contributions or gifts to Obama for America are not tax deductible.