Initial reactions to the third debate indicate that President Obama won with more poise and an aggressiveness than Romney. However, while the President had the upper hand in many respects, he did not win this debate. Neither did Romney for that matter.
From the start, the strategies were clear. Romney, who was criticized for his outbursts in the last debate, seemed more composed and unwilling to battle. Obama was prepared for attacks to stop any momentum Romney had accumulated after the first debate. He called Romney's foreign positions "all over the map" four or five times during the debate. He blasted Romney sarcastically for calling out the President on fewer navy ships. Obama retorted that Romney should study the military better and realize that they have less "horses and bayonets." He even told Romney that he shouldn't "airbrush history" regarding the auto industry. He was so aggressive early on that Romney abruptly stopped him and said "Attacking me is not an agenda."
Romney rarely indulged in attacking the President and later on in the debate as Obama called him out on the Detroit auto industry, Romney refused to let his temper get the best of him and ignored Obama's attacks.
Romney played it safe throughout the night by being conciliatory and agreed on the President's policies so many times that Obama even stated that Romney seemed to want to perpetuate a lot of his policies but felt that by saying it "Louder" would create different results. Romney did have a few moments where he seemed a bit illusory and made idealist and obvious claims at times on how to fix the Middle East. As he has said regarding domestic policy, he once again simply relied on general statements such as "we need to spread freedom" in order to fix the problems of the Middle East. Obvious responses they were, but none that contained the substance people were expecting to hear.
In one instance, moderator Bob Scheiffer asked Romney what he would do if Israel was to call him and tell him that they were ready to bomb Iran. Romney dodged the question by stating that he did not want to get into any hypothetical because that would never happen. That answer in particular did not come off well as it was evident that Romney was afraid to make a committed response and the fact that he changed the topic instantly by shifting back to the previous question did not help matters.
When the debate shifted to domestic policy, Romney brought up being Governor of Massachusetts (for which Obama finally attacked him) and he also brought up his five point plan and stated that he could create 12 million jobs. However, he neglected to say how as he had in previous debates or in his campaign events.
Obama seemed more composed in dealing with foreign policy and was more active in proposing his answers. He made Romney look silly with the "horses and bayonets" comment as well as the "airbrush" comment. His high energy was a huge turnaround from the first debate where he stuttered and seemed lethargic and tired. Overall, Obama looked in charge throughout the debate and ready to answer questions thrown at him. But while he seemed knowledgeable on foreign policy, he had a few major missteps that made it hard to crown him the debate's victor.
Obama's attacking stance and Romney's chiding him for attacking him made Obama look like a scolded child. His incessant attempts to rile up Romney on Detroit made him look a bit irritable and his eventual inability at getting the desired response also worked against him. But the biggest shortcoming of Obama in this debate was a subtle one. Most expected Romney would jump back to domestic policy time and again as a crutch, but it was the President who returned to it over and over; almost as if he was trying to make up for the first debate when he failed epically to establish a convincing case for his domestic policies. It made the debate frustrating to watch and made one question why Obama did not remain on task rather than meander. Romney was no better, but that was expected considering his lesser experience in that area. Obama was expected to stay on point and composed and while he did not show it in the exterior, his constant decision to return to attacking Romney on domestic policy did not make him look as secure as expected. One could argue that Obama was trying to address the most important issue in the election (the economy and domestic policy) but it did not take away from the fact that he was trying too hard to emphasize points that had been discussed in other debates.
Obama picked up little ground from this debate. While he looked poised and collected in answering questions, it seemed early on that he knew that the topics of the debate were the least important aspect of the night. He knew that the American people, while they did care about foreign policy, were more concerned with the economy. He tried to drill the point home and pick up points by attacking Romney, but he ultimately failed to deliver the knockout punch he needed to regain momentum. Romney did little to help his own cause, but he already had the momentum cruising his way and did not lose much of it.
Who do you think won the third debate?
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