Pundits and journalists have written for months on which swing state or key voter demographic will decide the fate of President Obama in November. But a few million young, white, female voters who may pass by a church they rarely attend on their way to their secretarial or waitressing jobs may be the ones who carry the most weight this year.

A survey conducted by The Tarrance Group and Lake Research Partners contacted 1,000 likely registered voters between October 14-18 and found that young females – a group that voted heavily in favor of President Obama in 2008 – is concerned about the economy and their prospect for a better job. What the poll also uncovered is that the overwhelming majority of these young women are truly undecided voters, thus they are the ones who could tilt a deadlocked race to one side or the other.

As a whole, this year's typical undecided voter is white, a 18- to 29-year-old female who identifies herself as Protestant but rarely attends church, an Independent, single and employed. She has voted for both Republicans and Democrats and is more concerned about fiscal than social issues. And she hasn't had time to watch the debates. more >>

Editor's note: In this series comparing the positions of both major party presidential candidates on a range of issues, each candidates platform will be described using information from the candidate's themselves, mostly from the candidate's websites. A candidate's description of their opponent's position will not be used. In describing the candidate's position, The Christian Post does not attest to the facts stated as part of the position.

Taxes, budgets and deficits have become central issues in the presidential campaign. The national debt is currently above $16 trillion and annual budget deficits have hovered around $1 trillion per year in the last few years. Both candidates, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, advocate lowering budget deficits, reforming the tax code and keeping taxes low, but there are some differences as well.

There are two ways to lower deficits: increased revenue or decreased spending. Increased revenue can come from higher taxes or a growing economy. When comparing the two candidates, the short answer is that Obama favors higher taxes and decreased spending and Romney favors decreased spending and a growing economy. The long answer is more complicated. more >>

In the first presidential debate Wednesday night in Denver, Colo., President Barack Obama argued for another term in office to recover from the deep recession that began four years ago, and that his rival, Republican Mitt Romney, would return the nation to the economic policies that led to the recession. Romney argued that Obama's policies have not been working and worsened the crisis. He also said that Obama's descriptions of his plans were not true.

Obama argued that Romney's plan would cut taxes by $5 trillion, mostly for the wealthy, and cut programs that help the middle class.

Romney is making the "same sales pitch made in 2001 and 2003" under President George W. Bush, Obama argued, while "Bill Clinton tried the approach I talked about." more >>

The pending "fiscal cliff," or "taxmageddon," threatens to push the U.S. economy into a recession. The fiscal cliff is a set of policies due to go into effect in January, unless Congress and the president act to change them. Here is a rundown of all the policies contributing to the fiscal cliff.

Tax Increases

The tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, during the President George W. Bush administration, were not made permanent. Rather they were set to expire in 2010. At the end of 2010, President Barack Obama signed a two year extension of those tax cuts. On Jan. 1, 2013, therefore, income taxes will increase for all tax brackets, and return to the rates they were at before the Bush tax cuts. more >>

With a national debt surpassing $16 trillion and a pending "fiscal cliff" that threatens to send the economy into recession, both presidential candidates, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, agree on the need for entitlement reform and tax reform, but both candidates lack some specific details about which reforms they would support.

"Let me ask you, in a second term, what is the president proposing to do to reform Social Security, save if for future generations, and will it involve lower benefits for anyone or higher taxes for anyone?" Time magazine journalist Mark Halperin asked David Axelrod, chief strategist for the Obama campaign, Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

After Axelrod said Obama would reform Social Security in a "balanced way," but offered nothing specific, Halperin repeated the question: "What's his proposal?" more >>

President Barack Obama could not remember how much the national debt was at the time he took office and said the debt was a long and medium-term problem, but not an issue in the short-term, in a Tuesday interview on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman."

When David Letterman asked Obama about the national debt, Obama answered that the debt was the result of wars, tax cuts and a new Medicare prescription drug benefit passed during the George W. Bush administration, along with "emergency measures" passed during his first year in office to save the auto industry and "get the financial system back on track."

"Do you remember what that number was? Was it $10 trillion?" Letterman asked. more >>