Mitt Romney sought to refocus his presidential bid on his economic policies as aides tried to persuade anxious Republicans not to panic against the backdrop of disappointing polling data and reports of infighting among his campaign staff.
President Barack Obama’s challenger zeroed in on a promise to cut government spending by $500bn a year by the end of his first term by cutting all government programmes that were not “essential” and eliminating 10 per cent of the federal workforce by attrition.
The effort to roll out more specific policies came as Neil Newhouse, Mr Romney’s chief pollster, said that voters did not understand the difference between the Republican’s and Mr Obama’s position on taxes and the deficit.