Romney Camp Projects Confidence despite Polls

Either he is wearing the best poker face in politics, or Mitt Romney is his own truest believer, so sure of his destiny as the next U.S. president that he refuses to contemplate the alternative.

"Confidence" is the singular word that senior strategist Stuart Stevens used to describe the Republican nominee's mood going into Tuesday's election, despite polls showing a slight lead for President Barack Obama.

Nearly everyone running for higher office projects an aura of accomplishment, strength, even inevitability, knowing that charisma can translate into votes.

But plenty of real-time writing on the wall about the U.S. election would suggest to even the most optimistic Romney backer that things may not go as planned for the challenger.

Romney has always faced an uphill climb to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, and while national polls have shown the rivals in the tightest of races, recent gains by the president have left Romney with increasingly long odds.

Obama, say experts and pollsters, has a clearer path to the nomination, especially when one looks at the battleground states where voters will determine the next president.

Obama leads in poll averages in seven of those states, including Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. Of nine swing states experts say are up for grabs this year, Romney leads in just Florida and North Carolina, and by narrow margins.

But you wouldn't know that from speaking to Romney aides, who described the former Massachusetts governor as confident and optimistic as his five-year quest for the presidency approaches its decisive moment.

"He's very eager to lead the country," Stevens said Monday, dismissing suggestions that the Republican nominee might be nervous on the final full day of campaigning as he puts his political fate in the hands of American voters.

According to two Romney aides, the talk in the staff section of his campaign plane simply does not turn to the prospect of a defeat.

Those who travel day in and day out with Romney -- Stevens, senior adviser Kevin Madden, Romney "body man" Garrett Jackson, traveling press secretary Rick Gorka, and trip director Charlie Pearce -- have been reminiscing with Romney about the best moments of his campaign, Madden and Gorka said.

"It's been a light mood up front," Gorka told reporters on the campaign plane Monday.

"It's been an incredible journey. We're very, very excited for these last events today, and we're very, very optimistic about our chances tomorrow."

Romney himself is not a candidate likely to reveal much of his inner emotions out on the trail. As a supremely successful businessman and private equity investor, he had a steely bearing during public campaign events.

In recent days, though, he has boldly told crowds that a victory in their state -- Florida, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire -- will put him over the top and make him the nation's next president.

He has sometimes appeared exhausted in recent days, as has Obama, as the two men have criss-crossed the country in a feverish final effort to shore up support and win over undecided voters.

But while Obama grew wistful Monday night, his eyes moist at his final campaign rally, Romney was charged-up.

The crowds certainly help. They have built steadily in the final weeks of Romney's campaign, and a night-time rally at a Pennsylvania farm on Sunday drew 25,000 people.

With the race coming to a close, senior officials in Romney's circle, including campaign manager Matt Rhoades and senior advisers Beth Myers and Peter Flaherty, joined the final campaign ride on Monday.

At a rowdy rally in battleground Ohio, Romney's plane rolled into a hangar as some 10,000 supporters chanted "One more day! One more day!"

With the theme of the movie "Air Force One" playing, Romney and his wife Ann stepped out of the plane's doorway to a loud roar from the crowd, then walked down the steps and over to a stage.

Several top Romney aides were grinning broadly, sharing hugs and high-fives.