For Romney, developing trust is key

(CBS News) With polls showing the presidential election shaping up to be a very competitive contest, one of Mitt Romney's key goals in the coming weeks will be developing voters' trust, according to CBS News political director John Dickerson.

Voters can't follow all of the particulars of the debate over Medicare, Dickerson said Monday on "CBS This Morning," but they can get a general sense of "who's going to be on your side." They want to know, he added, "that the guy in charge of it has some sense of your lives... When Medicare is being reshaped, is Romney going to have your interest in mind, or is Obama?"

Republican Convention 2012: complete coverage

Earning that trust among voters may come down to building a better connection with them. So this week at the Republican National Convention, Dickerson said, Romney should "maybe just tell the story of his life."

The convention this week in Tampa offers Romney a key opportunity to do so, added CBS' Norah O'Donnell.

"There are few moments in American politics when you have a captive audience," she said. "I think this convention's critical to him. He's got to change the dynamics of this race... He does it with his speech."