Voters are seeing a softer side of Mitt Romney as the candidates sprint into the campaign’s final month

Voters are seeing a new side of Mitt Romney as the presidential candidates sprint into the campaign’s final month.
The Republican nominee is moderating his language — if not all his positions — as he makes a push to win moderate swing state voters.
In perhaps the most dramatic example of this new tone, Romney now says that he was “completely wrong” to say that 47% of Americans think they are entitled to government benefits.
He previously had defended the comment, while saying it was “not elegantly stated.”
Romney’s change of tone began emerging during Wednesday night’s debate with President Obama.
“I like green energy as well,” Romney said, before arguing that oil and gas are a higher priority.
He also said: “I love great schools . . . and the key to great schools, great teachers.” In the past, Romney has said teachers’ unions place students’ needs second.
It is not unusual for a presidential candidate to attempt to move toward the political center during the general election. Romney’s apparent shift is occurring later than usual.
Obama dismissed the gentler touch as a last-minute “tap dance” for votes during campaign rallies on Friday.
“It was like 'Dancing with the Stars,' or maybe it was ‘Extreme Makeover: Debate Edition,'" he said. “But no matter what he says, my opponent — he’s a big believer of these top-down economics.”
Romney’s shift on the 47% remark came almost three weeks after Mother Jones magazine first revealed the comment, which was captured on a video secretly recorded at a fundraiser last spring.
"Well, clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question and answer sessions, now and then you're going to say something that doesn't come out right," Romney told Fox News on Thursday night.
"In this case, I said something that's just completely wrong," he continued.