BOCA RATON, Fla. — President Barack Obama sharply challenged Mitt Romney on foreign policy in their final campaign debate Monday night, accusing him of "wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map." The Republican coolly responded, "Attacking me is not an agenda" for dealing with a dangerous world.
With just 15 days remaining in an impossibly close race for the White House, Romney took the offensive, too. When Obama said the U.S. and its allies have imposed crippling sanctions on Iran to halt nuclear weapons development, the Republican challenger responded that the U.S. should have done more. He declared repeatedly, "We're four years closer to a nuclear Iran."
Though their third and last face-to-face debate was focused on foreign affairs, both men reprised their campaign-long disagreements over the U.S. economy — the top issue by far in opinion polls — as well as energy, education and other domestic issues.
The two men did find accord on more than one occasion when it came to foreign policy.
Each stressed unequivocal support for Israel when asked about a U.S. response if the Jewish state were attacked by Iran.
"If Israel is attacked, we have their back," said Romney — moments after Obama vowed, "I will stand with Israel if Israel is attacked."
Both also said they oppose direct U.S. military involvement in the efforts to topple Syrian President Bashir Assad.
The debate produced none of the finger-pointing and little of the interrupting that marked the presidential rivals' debate last week, when Obama needed a comeback after a listless performance in their first meeting on Oct. 3.
The final debate behind them, both men are embarking on a home-stretch whirlwind of campaigning. The president is slated to speak in six states during a two-day trip that begins Wednesday and includes a night aboard Air force One as it flies from Las Vegas to Tampa. Romney intends to visit two or three states a day.
Already four million ballots have been cast in early voting in more than two dozen states.
Obama appears on course to win states and the District of Columbia that account for 237 of the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. The same is true for Romney in states with 191 electoral votes. The battlegrounds account for the remaining 110 electoral votes: Florida (29), North Carolina (15), Virginia (13), New Hampshire (4), Iowa (6), Colorado (9), Nevada (6), Ohio (18) and Wisconsin (10).
On Monday night, Obama said more than once that Romney had been "all over the map" with his positions. And not necessarily putting new distance between the two men. In fact, Romney offered rare praise for the administration's war efforts in Afghanistan.
The former Massachusetts governor said the 2010 surge of 33,000 U.S. troops was a success and asserted that efforts to train Afghan security forces are on track to enable the U.S. and its allies to put the Afghans fully in charge of security by the end of 2014. He said that U.S. forces should complete their withdrawal on that schedule; previously he has criticized the setting of a specific withdrawal date.
When it came to Iran, Romney stressed that war is a last option to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon, softening the hawkish tone that had been a hallmark of his campaign.
And Romney barely addressed the simmering dispute over the administration's handling of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
But the debate was hardly all sweetness and light.
On the Middle East, Romney said that despite early hopes, the ouster of despotic regimes in Egypt, Libya and elsewhere over the past year has resulted in a "rising tide of chaos." He said the president has failed to come up with a coherent policy to grapple with change sweeping the region, and he added ominously that an al-Qaida-like group has taken over northern Mali.
Anticipating one of Obama's most frequent campaign assertions, Romney said of the man seated nearby, "I congratulate him on taking out Osama bin Laden and taking on the leadership of al-Qaida. But we can't kill our way out of this mess. ... We must have a comprehensive and robust strategy."
More than a half hour later, Obama returned to the subject, saying that Romney had once said it wasn't worth moving heaven and earth to catch one man, a reference to the mastermind behind the 9/11 terror attacks.
"You said we should ask Pakistan for permission," Obama said. "And if we had asked Pakistan permission, we would not have gotten him. And it was worth moving heaven and earth to get him."
The president said he had ended the war in Iraq, was on a path to end the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan and has vowed to bring justice to the Benghazi attackers.
He also jabbed at Romney's having said during the campaign that Russia is the United States' No. 1 geopolitical foe.
"Governor, when it comes to our foreign policy you seem to want the policies of the 1980s, just like you want to import the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies in the 1920s," Obama said.
Obama took a mocking tone after Romney, criticizing the administration's Pentagon budget, said disapprovingly the U.S. Navy has fewer ships than at any time since the end of World War I.
"I think Governor Romney maybe hasn't spent enough time looking at how our military works. You mentioned the Navy, for example, that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets because the nature of our military has changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers where planes land on them."
The televised debate brought no cessation to other campaigning.
Obama's campaign launched a television ad in Florida that said the president ended the war in Iraq and has a plan to do the same in Afghanistan, accusing Romney of opposing him on both. It was not clear how often the ad would air, given the fall's overall focus on the economy.
Vice President Joe Biden, campaigning in Canton, Ohio, emphasized differences between the two candidates on the war in Afghanistan.
"We will leave Afghanistan in 2014, period. They say it depends," he said. "Ladies and gentlemen, like everything with them, it depends. It depends on what day you find these guys."
Romney's running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, was in Colorado. "We are in the midst of deciding the kind of country we're going to be, the kind of people we're going to be, for a generation," he said.
Whatever the outcome of the final face-to-face confrontation, the debates have left an imprint on the race. Romney was widely judged the winner of the first debate over a listless president on Oct. 3, and he has risen in polls in the days since. Obama was much more energetic in the second.
Monday night marked the third time in less than a week that the president and his challenger shared a stage, following the feisty 90-minute town-hall-style meeting last Tuesday on Long Island and a white-tie charity dinner two night later where gracious compliments flowed and barbs dipped in humor flew.
loose stool posted at 4:45 am on Tue, Oct 23, 2012.
Obama came across as rude and arrogant again. not very presidential. I quess when your behind in the polls and have no record to run on you have to be that way.
Dale Whiting posted at 6:41 am on Tue, Oct 23, 2012.
Rude? Arrogant? Not really. Romney made unintelligent statements. Rather than just say they were unintelligent, misinformed or down right wrong, the President explained how they were wrong, And where far too many Americans are misinformed, he had to state things simply so that we would understand. That is not rude or arrogant. Loose stool, maybe you need to give us some examples.
Accuracy posted at 8:16 am on Tue, Oct 23, 2012.
“Foreign policy fireworks”?? For their third and final debate, President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney tried to focuse on foreign policy . . . but often drifted off topic to the economy.
As a gentleman, Mitt Romney seemed very passive and agreed with the president; on Israel, on Afghanistan, and was opposed sending U.S. troops into Syria. But, President Barack Obama did get defensive and sarcastic throughout the debate.
President Obama said Gov. Romney is "all over the map" and inexperienced. Romney took a less aggressive tone in this debate, but painted a negative picture of the president, even saying to him downright, "you've been wrong."
President Obama came out on the attack, accusing Romney of having an old school foreign policy, saying, "The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back."
Cas Lee posted at 7:34 pm on Sun, Oct 28, 2012.
Hello, my fellow American voters!
I watched the Oct. 3rd, 11th, 16th, and 22nd debates.
1st Romney-Obama debate covered 7 topics: jobs; budget deficit/debt; social security/entitlements; federal gov’t economic regulation and role; healthcare; partisan gridlock.
2nd Romney-Obama debate covered 11 topics: college graduate jobs; gas prices; taxes; equal pay; Bush policies; Obama’s record; illegal immigrants; Libya; assault weapons; jobs; candidate misperceptions.
3rd Romney-Obama debate covered 10 topics: Libya; Syria; Egypt; U.S. world role; military spending; Israel; Iran; Afghanistan; China; U.S. national security threats.
Ryan-Biden debate covered 10 topics: Libya; Iran; economy; medicare/social security/entitlements; tax reform/spending/budget cuts; military policy; Afghanistan; Syria; abortion; negative campaign tactics.
Romney and Ryan won all 4 debates, although Obama improved some in the 2nd debate and Romney slightly took the win both in the 2nd and 3rd debates.
In the 3rd debate (unlike in prior debates), Obama reflected his weakness and disrespect by interrupting Romney a lot and using too many “one-line quips” to try to denigrate Romney.
Ryan won despite Biden’s consistently rude behavior during the debate (often interrupted Ryan, laughed when Ryan talked, pointed his finger). Biden’s tactics to evade issues/truth disrespected Americans interested in facts, figures, forecasts, and solutions for real people with real problems.
Romney and Ryan won with substance, directness, integrity, respect, clarity, facts, commitment, inspiration, credibility, and leadership.
As an INDEPENDENT female feminist (egalitarian) voter, I support the Romney/Ryan ticket.
Romney and Ryan, with their no-nonsense and methodic approach to solving America’s problems, are the best persons in terms of qualifications and character to lead our country and make life better for all Americans.
I am inspired by Romney/Ryan, and I hope that you are too!
Best regards,
Cas Lee
REG in AZ posted at 9:43 am on Fri, Nov 2, 2012.
Why would a Republican vote for Obama and the Democrats? Because they realize the current Republican Party really only represents the very few. Because they want the Grande Ole Party, with a sincere interest in the people, back and see the only way to get that is to firmly and totally reject what they have become. Because they recognize the truth, that America isn’t actually close to being a “socialistic” society but is really becoming a “two class” society with the very few (1%) competing in having it all, while the majority (99%) is left struggling (as proven by the constantly growing gap between the very wealthy and everyone else). Because they recognize and understand that our severe problems weren’t caused by taxes on the wealthy or by government spending or even by the deficit but rather are the direct result of aggressive exploitation by the few, costing the majority greatly, with the permissive “puppet” politicians actually being co-responsible. ...
... Because they realize the $17T debt isn’t just Obama’s doing but that it’s dynamic growth started under Bush-Cheney, after they blew through the surplus given them by Clinton, and that Bush-Cheney actually took this country to several crisis points, which they simply passed on to Obama, who then fought to address them over the Republican’s irresponsible faulting and stubborn blocking, without the Republicans ever having any conscience or concern for the people. Because they see “the money” is aggressively and arrogantly working against the population, obnoxiously and insultingly taking the people for granted, to achieve “the money’s” goal of always “more” for them. Because the Republican Party’s actions clearly show that their rhetoric is always just subterfuge to put over their self-serving pursuit of their political ambitions, at any cost to the people. Because they don’t want to return to “more of the same”, Bush-Cheney style, that can only result in “more of the same” and again just cost the majority greatly. And maybe just because they are part of the 99% and not the 1%, ... and then very possibly just because they want to vote their conscience!