For Republican candidate Mitt Romney, the speech he delivers to supporters in Boston on Election Night will either signify a new era in Washington or the end of the road for a career in politics that dates back to a 1994 Senate race loss.

After months of waging a spirited -- and sometimes bruising -- campaign against President Barack Obama, the public has seen many different portrayals of Romney the candidate.

The 65-year-old born in Detroit, Mich. threw his hat into the GOP race as a crafty businessman who saved the Salt Lake City Olympics and had the credentials to turn around the nation's economy. But Romney has also had to fight the perception that he is a socially awkward elitist out of touch with middle-class America.

With Obama holding the slight edge in at least eight battleground states, where does the former Massachusetts governor's image stand one day before the biggest night of his political life?

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The country has seen the return of Mitt Romney the "Massachusetts Moderate" during the stretch run of his presidential campaign. In his pitches to independent voters, Romney has painted himself as the candidate who would work with Democrats to deal with the nation's economic and budget issues, while suggesting that a vote for Obama is a vote for more gridlock in Washington.

But during the primary season where he had to fend off charges of not being conservative enough to oppose Obama in a presidential race, Romney adopted stances that aligned more with the Republican right-wing base.

He pledged to grant a waiver to all 50 states that would allow them to opt out of the Affordable Care Act if elected. Romney also voiced opposition to abortion during the primary except in cases of rape, but was recently quoted in the Des Moines Register saying, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda."

Charges of being "too moderate" aside, Romney has had to repel headline-grabbing remarks that have created perceptions of him as a snob (47 percent), opportunist (Libya) and likely to stir up an international incident (London Olympics) that would cripple his candidacy if not for stagnant unemployment and Obama's own vulnerabilities as an incumbent.

Still, the former businessman finds himself in a race considered too close to call, despite most battleground states tilting toward the Obama column. 

In a Gallup poll asking participants to cite the two major candidates' strengths, many responders emphasized Romney's business experience. About 16 percent called him a "good businessman," and 11 percent viewed Romney's economic policies as a strong point. Another 4 percent said he is "good at handling finances/budgets."

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Romney certainly benefits from being seen as the candidate who would better handle the economy, with that topic being the most important on voters' minds this election year. But this advantage has not translated into momentum in the crucial swing state of Ohio, which he likely needs to capture to have a shot at collecting 270 electoral votes.

Maybe Romney's stance against bailing out car companies turned off voters in a state where one in eight jobs are tied to the auto industry and unemployment stands below the national average of 7.9 percent. Perhaps he is still struggling to win over rural conservative voters in the Buckeye State who have reservations over his Mormon faith, and likely backed Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich during the primary.

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There's no telling how much Superstorm Sandy's domination of media coverage quieted Romney's momentum during the final week before America votes (New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's glowing remarks of the president's response to the disaster did not help either).

Romney also finds himself in close contests in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, and in all likelihood, needs all three to keep his White House hopes alive.

If the "flip flop" moniker used by detractors on both sides to describe Romney's political metamorphosis holds true, he will have to pull one last memorable 180 to capture an election that appears to be gradually slipping away from his reach.

 

Read more Neon Tommy stories on the 2012 election.

Reach Senior Staff Reporter Danny Lee here; follow him on Twitter here.