Rock Center

It has been a long year of campaigning and throughout the campaign season, Rock Center with Brian Williams has been along for the ride.  

From embedding with each Republican candidate during the primaries to experiencing a day in the life of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's Body Man, Garrett Jackson to flying on Air Force One with President Obama, Rock Center has been at the center of the election.

Paloma Veloz/NBC News

Through our travels we've met a lot of familiar faces, including Stephen Colbert, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Jay Leno, Ann Romney and her five sons, and maybe some not so familiar faces such as George Manukas, who we dubbed as the most important person in this election.  

WATCH: Rock Center's full Decision 2012 coverage

After you cast your vote we hope you can join Brian Williams and the NBC Politics team tonight live from Democracy Plaza starting at 7 P.M. Eastern Time on NBC.

Rock Center

During Brian Williams' two-day campaign profile of President Barack Obama this week, the president made a pit stop in California for an interview with Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Politicians and candidates have a long tradition of appearing on late-night television programs. In this edition of Rock Bottom, Brian Williams looks at the importance of late-night during a presidential election.

Click here to watch Brian Williams' full, behind-the-scenes report broadcast Thursday on Rock Center.

By Jessica Hopper
Rock Center

UPDATED 6:50PM EST -- In the midst of 48 hours of non-stop campaigning in crucial swing states, President Barack Obama said that the tightening of the race between him and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney doesn’t surprise him.

NBC's Williams with President Barack Obama in Davenport, IA. (Photo Credit: Neal Carter/NBC News)

In an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa, the president said that he never believed that the excitement surrounding his historic election four years ago and the achievement of taking out al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden would inflate his likelihood of re-election.

“You guys have some short memories. Folks in your business were writing me off a year ago, saying there's no way I would win,” President Obama said. “These things go in ebbs and flows and, you know, the one thing I've tried to always be is just steady in terms of what I believe in, who I'm fighting for, and, you know, I think that one of the qualities I bring to bear in this campaign is, people see, what did I say I was going to do in 2008?  And what have I delivered?  And they can have some confidence that the things I say, I mean.”

Both the president and former Massachusetts Governor Romney are fiercely campaigning, criss-crossing the country in the final 13 days of the campaign.

“We always knew this was going to be a close race from the start.  And what we have right now is a lead that we’ve maintained throughout the campaign and we are going to just continue to drive home the message that there are two fundamentally different choices in this election about where we take the country,” the president said.  

After speaking to the crowd in Davenport, the president’s first stop in an eight-state campaign blitz, Obama sat down with Williams and discussed his relationship with Romney, his lackluster performance in the election’s first presidential debate and his administration’s handling of the crisis in Libya.

Obama defended his campaign’s release of a 20-page document detailing his plan for the next four years. The document was released the day after the final presidential debate and left pundits questioning whether its release was a late move made by a campaign that believes its opponent might be gaining momentum. 

“I don’t know why you say that this is late in the game.  This is exactly what I laid out at my convention,” the president told Williams.  “Every point that’s in there is what we said when I accepted the Democratic nomination, is what we do to build up the middle class in this country and it’s been on our website for weeks and I hope that everybody takes an opportunity to read it, because as folks now narrow their focus on the election, in fact people here in Iowa are voting. You know, the more informed voters are and the more engaged they are about how big the stakes are, the better I think we’re going to do.”

When asked about the dynamic between he and Gov. Romney, the president said that his feelings towards Romney are no different than the feelings other presidential candidates have had before.

“I don’t think anybody would say that while you were in the middle of a campaign that you felt deep affection for the other guy, because, you know, look, you’re fighting for competing visions,” President Obama said.

From Iowa, the president traveled to Colorado and Nevada for campaign events before flying overnight to Florida to continue the second day of his battleground swing.

NBC News cameras have been granted wide-ranging access to the president as he embarks on his multi-state journey in the all-out push to appeal to voters. Clips from the president’s interview will be aired Wednesday evening on NBC Nightly News and Thursday morning on Today, with a complete behind-the-scenes profile airing Thursday night at 10pm/9c on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.

By Sylvie Haller and Ronnie Polidoro
Rock Center

In this presidential election the most important person is the one who still hasn't decided who to vote for. We found him. His name is George Manukas, a grandfather and an avid golfer. Why is he the most important person? Manukas is a registered Independent living in a key battleground state who voted for McCain in 2008. He’s undecided in 2012, but the candidate who gets his vote, and the votes of others like him, will likely win the election.

For our purposes we’ll call him the most important person in the election, M.I.P. for short.

M.I.P. and his wife of 40 years, Voula, live in Raleigh, N.C., a swing state swarming with campaign volunteers who are calling phones, knocking on doors, and ringing doorbells to lock in the support for their respective candidates.

“I’m on their speed dial,” M.I.P. told NBC's Harry Smith in an interview aired on Rock Center.

With a mailbox always full of political literature and a phone that keeps on ringing, M.I.P. likes to think he is the most important person in the country.  He says he doesn’t read any of the political mail and he’s been trying to tune out the ads.  So how can the campaigns reach the most important person in the presidential election?  National Media's Will Feltus has an idea.

Feltus knows just about everything there is to know about Republicans, Democrats, and the people in between. As a research expert at National Media, one of the largest Republican communications planning and implementation agencies in the United States, Feltus and his staff dissected massive national surveys that asked people what they buy and how they vote. By knowing what beer you drink, where you go out to eat, what shows you watch, and what car you drive, Feltus and his staff can tell you what all of that says about your politics.  With that valuable information campaigns can advertise during certain shows or use certain products to sway voters.

“Sam Adams is very Republican. We like to think that because Sam Adams was such a patriot and a foe of big government, maybe that’s why Republicans like to drink Sam Adams beer,” Feltus told Smith, adding: “Democrats like to drink vodka, rum, tequila.”  And, with a chuckle, Feltus says, “Sauvignon Blanc would be a wine that would be very predictive of partisanship.”

National Media

Feltus can even pick out specific websites that Republicans and Democrats frequent. 

“Republicans tend to be getting financial information, making travel reservations,” Feltus says, adding: “Democrats, unfortunately, are trying to get a job and a date.”

On television, shows and even entire networks such as “Dancing with the Stars,” “NCIS,” and The Weather Channel plot in the middle. 

“We pretty much like everything between “Modern Family,” “Dancing with the Stars,” over to “NCIS,”” said M.I.P.

National Media

Based on the M.I.P.’s habits, looks like Will Feltus’ research is dead on.

“It makes a difference, but it only makes a difference in close elections.  This kind of targeting gives the client that little edge, that little two or three point edge,” Feltus said.

More ads will continue to hit the digital airwaves, the phones will keep on ringing, and most of it will be targeted at our Most Important Person and other voters like him.

“[They] know how I’m going to vote before I do,” M.I.P. said.

As Election Day approaches, it will be harder for Manukas to tune out the ads. The only factor he cannot tune out is his wife, who is voting for President Barack Obama and who can wield more influence than any ad or political argument.  

“Sometimes, when we’re in the car or watching TV, an ad comes on and I will throw something at [M.I.P.],” Voula said, adding that she’ll continue to coax the most important person in her life to her side.

For now M.I.P. is still up in the air.

Rock Center

From Bill O'Reilly describing how some media pundits "smash" politicians and "pinheads," to Ann Coulter describing why O'Reilly isn't opinionated enough, Rock Center Special Correspondent Ted Koppel investigates the role of the media in the degeneration of politics into an ugly war of words.

The New York Times' David Carr says the partisan news business is so profitable, as much as $1 billion a year for one cable news network, that it's clear why others have followed suit.

Political commentators Ann Coulter and Bill Maher, ideological opposites, debate the issue.

"I think it's the first time a lot of liberals have been able to hear conservatives or know what they think," Coulter said, disagreeing that there has been a coarsening of political dialogue. "I think we just have both sides. ... You just get it from the other side now and Liberals don't like it so you're screaming bloody murder."

"We're not just screaming at each other," Maher said. "One side is screaming facts and truth. One side is screaming their version of truth, which is religious-based nonsense."

Of the industry overall, Carr says, "they're not interested in the fruits of piece. It's bad television. Who'd want to watch that?"

Rock Center

They provide the fodder that both Rush Limbaugh and Jon Stewart run with. From Media Matters to the Media Research Center, Ted Koppel takes us inside the industry where gaffe seekers spend their day watching and listening for the next comment that could deal a blow to the political opposition.

By Jessica Hopper and Ronnie Polidoro
Rock Center

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints say that their faith has experienced increased attention and scrutiny as one of their most prominent members, Mitt Romney, prepares to accept the Republican presidential nomination.

"His candidacy has shed some light on our faith and I get more questions now about being a Latter-day Saint than I did before. So I think that's a great thing, that's a positive thing," said Al Jackson.

Al Jackson's wife, Juleen, said that she hopes the country would accept an LDS president. The Jackson couple are raising their five kids in a traditional Mormon home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

"I feel like even though I don't know Mitt Romney personally, I know what he does. He prays morning and night. He prays with his wife. He loves his children. He studies the scripture. I believe that probably motivates him a lot in some of the things he's done in the past and the course of his direction in the future," Juleen Jackson said.

Governor Romney has rarely spoken publicly about his faith while on the campaign trail. Recently, he allowed reporters to follow him to church services.

In an interview with NBC Nightly News on July 25, Romney talked about his faith with Brian Williams, saying that his commitment of giving 10 percent of his income and time to help others has "enriched" he and his wife's lives.

"I'm very proud of my heritage. Without question, I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some call that the Mormon Church, that's fine with me. I'll talk about my experiences in the Church. There's no question they've helped shape my perspective," Romney told Williams.

David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue and Azul Airlines, said that Romney's faith has prepared him to be a presidential candidate.

"I don't think there's been a person that's run for president of the United States that's spent more one-on-one time helping people, counseling people in kind of the 17 years or so of full-time service that Mitt had in talking one-on-one to his congregation trying to lift those people up," Neeleman said.

Neeleman has held fundraisers for Romney at his Connecticut home. The low-cost fundraisers have involved Neeleman's nine children cooking food that he buys at Costco. 

"It's a very thrifty, Mormon, no-alcohol  fundraiser and so he kind of likes those," Neeleman said.

While they might be thrifty, one of Neeleman's events raised over a million dollars for Romney's campaign.

"He personally when you sit with him or you talk to him or if you're in a small group setting or you listen to what he has to say, you don't get that impression at all that he's aloof and you know, really not caring. Maybe on TV he may come across as that and I think under the backdrop of kind of rich guy, but it's really not the case at all," Neeleman said.

Some members of the church, while not siding with Romney politically, say that he is in a tough position when it comes to discussing his religion.

"Mitt Romney is in a really difficult position when it comes to talking about his faith. I do not envy him," said Joanna Brooks, author of The Book of Mormon Girl.  "There is widespread misunderstanding about Mormonism.  I hope that will change this year as people get to know us a little better as human beings."

Brooks calls herself a feminist and while she disagrees with many of Romney's political philosophies, she says that he is a very "familiar figure" to her.

"Mitt Romney reminds me of so many of the Mormon men I know-- his sense of duty, he's a little bit buttoned-up, he's a little bit private, feels a lot of responsibility you can tell. So I have a lot of affections for Mitt Romney," Brooks said.

Mitch Mayne, an openly gay man who serves as executive secretary to the Church's San Francisco bishop, said that the attention swirling around Romney and the Mormon church has created a "Mormon moment."

Mayne, who considers himself a Democrat, says that Romney doesn't owe it to the public to talk about his religion.

"I don't care what he does on Sunday. What I care about is whether or not he can do the job.  I'm not entirely convinced that Mitt Romney can do the job, but that's based on his credentials and his history. It's not based on his religion," Mayne said.

Even while Mayne doesn't believe Romney should be expected to talk about his religion any more than other candidates, he believes he and his fellow church members can seize the increased attention on their faith to dispel misunderstandings about the Church.

"If we as Mormons want to maximize what we call this Mormon moment and we want our, you know, our candidate to win, we as a faith need to step up and do exactly what we're doing with you today.  And that is begin to talk about our faith, begin to open the robes, begin to, you know, dissolve some of the mystery and the myth around Mormonism and really portray who we are," Mayne said.

Editor's Note: Rock Center's hour-long look at the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 'Mormon in America,' airs Thursday, Aug. 23 at 10pm/9c on NBC.

By Brooke Nevils
Rock Center

LLANGYNWD, Wales - About two hundred miles away from the Greenwich, England, arena where her purebred horse Rafalca competed in the London Olympics, Ann Romney stroked the nose of Magic, a Welsh pony.

"You're so pretty, Magic," said Mrs. Romney.

In the rugged coal country of southern Wales, you see a different side to Ann Romney: she is at one point teary-eyed, another laughing, but always a tough defender of her husband.  She talked at length about her life with multiple sclerosis, her conversion to the Mormon faith and her decision to stay home to raise her five boys.

As Rock Center Correspondent Natalie Morales found in her exclusive interview with the wife of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, scheduled to air Thursday at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center, this coal miner's granddaughter is much more than an owner of an Olympic dressage horse.

Mrs. Romney is a first-generation American.  Her father, Edward Davies, emigrated to the United States from this part of Wales in 1929, at age 15.

"It's very emotional for me to come back and to know what kind of life my grandfather lived, and my father," said Mrs. Romney, touring a coal mine much like the one in which her grandfather began working at age six.

The Davies family settled in Detroit, where a nearly 16-year-old Ann met 18-year-old Mitt at a party, and the high school sophomore's "heart went aflutter."  Four years to the day after their first date, they were married.

"We are partners, true partners in every sense of the way," she told Morales. "I don't think he could do it without me. I don't believe he could.  I couldn't obviously be here without him either."

Despite her steadfast support on the campaign trail, Mrs. Romney -- much like her sons -- was not so keen on her husband's role in public life after his failed bid for the Republican nomination in 2008.

"After the election was over and [John] McCain was the nominee, I made a decision that I would never do it again," she said. "You know who your husband is. You know-- I know what a good person he is. And oh - the negative - it's so hard as a wife to sit there and listen to that."

But when Morales asked why she changed her mind, Mrs. Romney said, "We have a reason why we're running and it's because I believe in my heart that Mitt is going to save America, that economically we are in such difficult times and that he is the person that’s going to pull us through this."

The criticism that plagued the Romneys during the 2008 campaign has continued, particularly in regards to their reported $250 million fortune and the issue of their tax returns.

When pressed by Morales, Mrs. Romney stood her ground. "We have been very transparent to what's legally required of us,” she said. “There's going to be no more tax releases given."

Mrs. Romney said if they release any more information, "it will only give them more ammunition."

In regards to their finances,  she said "there's nothing we're hiding."

"It's been managed by a blind trust since before Mitt was governor, you know, 2002 forward,” she told Morales.  “And so, you know, I'll be curious to see what's in there too."

Editor's Note: Natalie Morales' full interview with Ann Romney aired Thursday, August 16 on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

By NBC's Peter Alexander and Ronnie Polidoro
Rock Center

The Romney brothers could soon become America’s first sons.  Ranging in age from 31 to 42, their names are Craig, Ben, Josh, Matt, and Tagg – but you may have seen them spoofed on Saturday Night Live as Taggart, Tanner, Tigit, Targalac, and Tic-Tac.   Which one of them is the biggest mama’s boy?  NBC’s Peter Alexander found out during an interview for an upcoming Rock Center story airing Thursday, July 19 at 10pm/9c.

Just like any group of brothers, they like to pick on each other, even during their first sit-down interview of the 2012 campaign.  They say Josh, the middle son, is the mama’s boy.

“Thanks guys. Let’s take it easy here,” replied Josh, one of three Romney sons who works in real estate.  Another son is a doctor.  The eldest runs a private equity firm like their father once did.    

They are all married and have a combined total of 18 children.  If Romney wins, he’ll have more grandkids than any sitting president in U.S. history.  

The Romney sons grew up in Belmont, Mass., an affluent suburb outside of Boston.  All of the brothers attended the same private school and later the same college, Brigham Young University.  Three of them went on and received their MBA’s from Harvard, just like their father.   

The boys were raised in a Mormon household where Saturdays were devoted to service.  And all five followed their father’s footsteps by going overseas on two-year missions to spread their Mormon beliefs. 

They are campaign veterans, on the trail stumping for their father since he first ran for Senate 18 years ago.  But when it came to Romney’s second run for the White House, four of his five boys didn’t want him to run. 

“I didn’t want him to run again.  I really didn’t,” Matt said, “I thought you know, you gave it your best shot in 2008, you felt like you had to do it, you had to go and give back to the country and you tried, and they didn’t take you, so let’s move on.”    

Along the way, they have heard about how their father has struggled at times to connect with the public.  The campaign hopes the sons can help explain some of their father’s more idiosyncratic moments, for example, when Romney told an audience, “It just feels good being back in Michigan.  You know, the trees are the right height.”

“He’s a little goofy,” said Tagg, “That’s part of his charm, I think.”

But the biggest criticism is that the wealthy Romney family can’t understand the economic challenges facing the average American family.  The sons insist their family and their father are not out of touch.

“We've obviously been very blessed,” Craig said, “And because of that we feel a responsibility to make sure we can do everything we can to make this country as great as it can be.”

They say they are not put off by the accusations, even within the Republican Party, that their father is aloof and a flip-flopper.  

“His true identity will come out and we know what a great father he is, we know how much he loves the country, we know how much he loves our kids,” Matt said, “It’s not ambition that’s driving him.  It is really a desire to give back.  and this is how he thinks he can give back.  And we agree.”

Editor’s Note: NBC’s Peter Alexander’s full report ‘The Romney 5’ will air Thursday, July 19 at 10pm/9c on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Rock Center

From using the word "guffawing" to talking about the perfect height of Michigan's trees, Mitt Romney's sons said the presidential contender's campaign trail jokes are part of his goofy personality.

"He's just dad. He's just, he's a little goofy and that's just, you know, part of his charm I think," said Tagg Romney in an interview with NBC's Peter Alexander airing Thursday, July 19 at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Craig Romney admits that sometimes his dad's joke work and sometimes they don't.

"It's the same corny jokes we grew up with. I mean, we're used to it. It's just kind of part of his personality, but he's always trying to entertain and sometimes it's successful and sometimes it's not,' Craig Romney said.

Editor's Note: NBC Correspondent Peter Alexander's interview with Romney's five sons airs Thursday, July 19 at 10pm/9c on NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Rock Center

Sharpies, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, Cocoa Puffs- those are just a few of the things that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's "body man," Garrett Jackson, has on hand to keep the governor going on the campaign trail. Rock Center travels along with Romney's personal aide as he assists the man he affectionately calls the "Gov."