If  you bleep out the names, close your eyes and just listen to the sound  bytes, it is difficult to discern whether the description is of  President Barack Obama or presumptive Republican presidential nominee  Mitt Romney.

The  campaigns of each of the two main contenders for the affection of  American voters at times seem to be painting each of the candidates with  the same brush and on the same canvass.

The  sound bytes and descriptors being thrown about, however, appear to be a  diversionary tactic rather presenting voters a clear choice of  direction and stances on the real issues that weigh heavily on voters'  minds: the economy, jobs and the unsustainable debt.

He's  a smug, Harvard-trained elitist who doesn't get how regular Americans  are struggling these days. More extreme than he lets on, he's keeping  his true agenda hidden until after Election Day. He's clueless about  fixing the economy, over his head on foreign policy. Who is he?

Your answer will help decide the next president.

Is  it Barack Obama, as seen by Mitt Romney? Or Romney, the way Obama  depicts him? For all their liberal versus conservative differences, when  the two presidential contenders describe each other, they sound like  they're ragging on the same flawed guy. Or mirror images of that guy.

Will voters prefer the man waving with his left hand or his right?

Blame it on two cautious candidates with more traits in common than their disparate early biographies would suggest.

No Drama Obama is panned as professorial and aloof. Romney is deemed boring when he's not being awkward.

Distrusted  as too moderate within his own party, each is demonized as a radical by  the other side. They don't get specific about the tough stuff, like  budget cuts or taxes, that would invite more precisely calibrated  negative ads.

Add a presidential contest buried beneath a single  issue, the economy, and original lines of attack are scarce. The  candidates take jabs anyway.

Both candidates are slammed as:

"Out of touch" with ordinary Americans.

Obama:  Cloistered in the White House. Hangs out with celebrities, acting  "cool." Doesn't understand the real world because "he spent too much  time at Harvard," according to Romney, who earned two Harvard degrees  himself.

Romney: Grew up wealthy, with a governor for a father.  Worth $200 million or more. He's the kind of guy who had a Swiss bank  account and wants a car elevator for his beach house, the Democrats  note.

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Bad for the middle class.

Obama: Failed  to deliver on his promises to help Americans "struggling to find good  jobs and make ends meet," the Romney camp says. Median household income  is down, unemployment up since he took office.

Romney: Wants to  reduce taxes on the wealthy while devastating Medicare and cutting  education, health care and other programs the middle class need,  Democrats charge. Obama says that amounts to "social Darwinism."

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Suspiciously secretive.

Obama:  Believing his microphone off, assured the Russian president he would  have "more flexibility" after Election Day. Obama will reveal "his true  positions only after the election is over," Romney says. Republicans  predict he would tack left on the environment, spending, gay rights and  other issues.

Romney: Told campaign donors of plans to cut or  eliminate the housing and education agencies as well as others — ideas  he hasn't disclosed publicly. "What's Mitt hiding?" Democrats ask,  demanding more about his personal tax returns and investments, too.

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Too extreme.

Obama:  Hopes to create "a European-style social welfare state," Romney says,  and "put free enterprise on trial." Endorsing Romney, Newt Gingrich  called Obama "the most radical, leftist president in American history."

Romney:  Referred to himself as "severely conservative." He's "extreme on  women's issues," Democrats contend. Obama places him to the right of  Reagan and suggests he's akin to Barry Goldwater.

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Unable to fix the economy.

Obama:  Can't get the jobless rate below 8 percent. He "delayed the recovery  and made it anemic," according to Romney, who says Obama lacks the  private sector experience necessary to understand the economy.

Romney:  As a venture capitalist, laid off workers and shipped jobs to Mexico,  the Obama campaign says. Also created Massachusetts jobs more slowly  than other governors of the time, Democrats note.

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Not up to foreign policy.

Obama:  Too weak to stand up to China or Russia or to stop Iran from getting a  nuclear bomb, and too eager to apologize for the United States, Romney  charges.

Romney: Likely to stumble into another misguided war,  according to Vice President Joe Biden. Wouldn't have had the guts to  send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden, the Obama campaign  suggests.

http://startribune.com/politics/150337595.html

From the Corfield, what are voters to do?

How are voters to determine who is who and where each stands on the important issues?

Will voters be distracted or will voters demand more from both camps?