Candidates lay out visions

A CNN/ORC national poll released Sunday showed President Obama and GOP challenger former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in a dead heat among likely voters. Forty-nine percent of likely voters say they are backing the president, and an equal amount say they are backing Romney.

Three other national polls have shown the race in a virtual tie among likely voters.

CNN’s final poll before the election showed a gender and age gap. While Obama managed a tie with Romney among senior citizens, he has lost some of the steam he had among young voters in 2008. Obama also leads Romney among women.

“Fifty-three percent of women say they plan to vote for President Obama compared to only 44 percent of men,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told CNN Sunday. “That works out to a nine-point gender gap, which would be the largest since 1996.”

Romney leads Obama 52 to 47 percent among voters making more than $50,000 per year. He also leads in the South, West and suburban rural areas.

Here are basic facts about each candidate before you head to the polls Tuesday:

Graphic formatting side by side

Barack Obama

Born: August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii

Education: Columbia University (Political Science – 1983)

Harvard Law School (Graduated 1991)

Non-political experience: Visiting Law and Government Fellow at University of Chicago Law School (1992-1996)

Lecturer at University of Chicago (1992-2004)

Civil rights attorney (1993-2004)

Political experience: Illinois State Senator 1997-2004

U.S. Senator for Illinois 2005-2008

U.S. President: 2008- present

Campaign platforms: Obama plans to boost the economy by investing in education and green energy and by giving tax incentives to companies who bring jobs back to the U.S. He plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan and use the money saved to reduce the budget deficit, and he will also focus on comprehensive immigration reform. He supports gay marriage and abortion.

Mitt Romney

Born: March 27, 1941, in Detroit, Michigan

Education: Brigham Young University (English-1971)

Joint MBA and JD from Harvard Business School and Law School

Non-political experience: Mormon Missionary to France (1966-1969)

Co-founder – Bain Capital (1984) Romney held various positions with the company over the years including CEO

President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002

Political experience: Massachusetts Governor (2003-2007)

Campaign platforms: Romney plans to get the economy under control by cutting non-defensive discretionary spending by five percent. He also wants to cap federal spending and give more responsibility to states to implement programs. He plans to repeal The Affordable Care Act and decrease regulations on small businesses. He wants to increase access to domestic energy resources so the U.S. can become more energy-independent. He does not support gay marriage or abortion.