Presidential debate: live

October 23rd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

04.15 (23.15) Backstage the Romneys are smiling. But how are his
advisors looking?

04.12 (23.12) The Obama camp are claiming an emphatic victory, but will
this matter in the polls? They’ve just released this statement from campaign
manager Jim Messina.

Tonight America saw its Commander-in-Chief and someone who’s not ready to
be Commander-in-Chief. President Obama dominated tonight’s debate because he
was strong and steady and outlined a clear vision to make Americans safer
and maintain our country’s leadership in the world. He demonstrated that he
knows a President has only one chance to get it right – and Mitt Romney has
failed the Commander-in-Chief test every single time, including many times
tonight

04.10 (23.10) CBS’s poll of 521 undecided voters is scoring it
dramatically for Obama.

03.55 (22.55) So there we go, the last debate of the 2012 election. The
President was every bit as aggressive as he had been in New York, but this
time he was standing on stronger ground. His strategy was two-fold:

1) Argue that Romney has been on every side of almost every foreign
policy issue

2) Show that while the Republican wants to talk tough he actually
agrees with most of the White House’s current positions.

And it worked. Romney repeatedly seemed to endorse Obama’s positions on
everything from drones to withdrawal from Afghanistan to fighting al-Qaeda.
The President knew he the advantage as the incumbent leader of the free
world and he used it to maximum effect but he also came armed with the
better quips and a more commanding style.

Romney was thoughtful throughout and had strong moments on Iran and on China.
But he went into the debate utterly determined to avoid being called a war
monger and left without saying much that anyone will remember.

At this stage there are few undecided Americans left to convince and it’s not
clear that tonight will matter. But those who did watch tonight are likely
to have come away thinking the President looked stronger.

03.45 (22.45) Twitter is intrigued by a little exchange between Tagg
Romney and the President on stage. Was the eldest Romney son apologising
for his “take
a swing” comments?

03.37 (22.37) Both men linger on stage, laughing and slapping each
other’s shoulders as they shake hands. President Obama shakes hands with
some of the Romney sons and their children. Michelle hangs back a little
bit.

–

03.35 (22.35) Romney says he’s optimistic about America and its future.
He says he wants peace and to get the economy going but there are two paths
available for voters. The President offers “a road to Greece”,
declining pay and more government dependence. Romney offers new jobs,
prosperity and new spirit of bipartisanship in Washington to get things done
on behalf of the people.

Both men look well prepared and both deliver their lines straight down the
camera.

03.32 (22.32) We’re onto closing statements.

Obama says that in the last four years the US has made “real progress”
in reversing the disastrous policies that led to record deficits, two wars
and a historic recession. While Romney’s policies would take the country
back, Obama says he has a “different vision” of everyone getting a
fair shot and doing their fair share. It’s time to ends the wars and do “some
nation building back at home”.

03.30 (22.30) Romney snaps at Obama: “I’m still speaking”.
It’s the second time in two debates he’s done it and this time the President
just laughs. We’re having a tired back-and-forth about Romney’s “Let
Detroit Go Bankrupt” argument from 2008.

03.25 (22.25) Obama brings up one of the key strategic decisions of his
administration: the pivot of American military focus to the Pacific after
decades of looking towards Europe.

03.20 (22.20) Schieffer asks whether Romney’s plan to declare China a
currency manipulator would cause a trade war. He replies that China has more
to lose from a standoff than the US and says American businesses need a
level playing field. He’s much stronger here and looks confident with what
he’s saying.

Obama, somewhat immaturely you could argue, says Romney is familiar with
outsourcing jobs to China because he did it while at Bain Capital. It’s been
a constant theme throughout the night: Romney more thoughtful, Obama more
aggressive.

03.19 (22.19) Romney says the greatest threat to peace is a nuclear
Iran. But he’s also nuanced on China, saying they don’t war and instead look
for peace and economic stability.

The Republican’s voice sounds like it’s going but he says that China looks at
America’s economy and its military commitments around the world and
questions whether the US is still a strong nation.

–

03.18 (22.18) We’re now onto China and the future: what is the greatest
threat facing the US in coming years?

Obama says terrorism is the most serious threatens but offers this on China:

China is both an adversary but also a potential parter in the international
community if it follows the rules.

He begins listing examples of his administration’s toughness on China in trade
disputes, and manages to mention Ohio in the process. Swing state +1.

03.15 (22.15) Is it time for the US to divorce Pakistan?

No, says Romney pretty simply, contradicting some in his party who want to cut
off funding to the South East Asian state. Romney also says he “entirely”
supports the use of drone strikes and Obama’s policy of aggressively ramping
up the numbers of attacks.

03.10 (22.10) Obama strikes a coldly pragmatic line on America’s role
in Afghanistan:

There’s no reason why Americans should die when Afghans are perfectly
capable of defending their own country.

It’s the sort of transactional philosophy that Joe Biden has advocated
for years.

22.07 (03.07) What would you do if the situation on the ground in
Afghanistan is unstable when American troops are due to leave at the end of
the 2014?

Romney is adamant that US troops will leave at the end of 2014, and is much
more definite about it than Paul Ryan was two weeks ago. The former governor
says that the US needs to remain engaged in Pakistan and ensure that its
nuclear weapons remain secure.

Again he has basically gone without criticising Obama and virtually endorsed
his Afghan policy.

22.05 (03.05) Obama sighs dramatically as he repeats his line about
Romney being “all over the map” on foreign policy from Libya to
Iraq, Iran to fighting al-Qaeda. The President looks impassioned, bordering
on angry. He talks about a young woman whose father died in the Twin Towers
and how the death of the al-Qaeda leader brought her closure.

21.58 (02.58) Romney repeats his line about Obama’s “apology tour”
across the Middle East, where he supposedly talked down the United States.
Obama says it’s a “whopper” that he has been debunked thoroughly.

But Romney doubles down, reminding the President that he went to Cairo but
skipped out on visiting Israel. Obama raises the stakes again: saying he
went to Israel as a presidential candidate “without donors or
fundraisers” and talks about how he visited Israeli towns hit by
rockets from Gaza and helped Israel build the Iron dome missile interceptor
system.

21.56 (02.56) Romney says that Obama has repeatedly projected weakness
abroad and that the Iranians have noticed and taken advantage.

It’s essential for a president to show strength from the very beginning
and make clear what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable and an Iranian
nuclear programme isn’t acceptable to us.

21.54 (02.54) Obama says that the New York Times report of one-on-one
talks with Iran are not true, but that talks are the goal. What deal would
he accept in negotiations with Tehran? “That they give up their nuclear
programme,” he says unhesitatingly. But he stresses that “the
clock is ticking” and that he’s not prepared to allow Iran to string
out fruitless negotiations.

21.49 (02.49) Romney dodges the question too, saying the US “would
have Israel’s back”

He says the US’s mission is to “dissuade Iran” through peaceful but
firm means. Somewhat bizarrely, he says he would indict Ahmadinejad for
inciting genocide with his comments on Israel. Is that really going to do
it?

–

21.48 (02.48) Are you prepared to say than an attack on Israel is an
attack on the US?

Obama fudges, saying the US “would stand with Israel”. He continues
by saying that the US’s sanctions on Iran have left the Iranian economy “in
a shambles” and vows that the Islamic Republic would never get a bomb
as long as he was president.

21.47 (02.47) Obama says the sequestration – the automatic cuts to
defence that will come into force next year if no deficit deal is reached –
will not happen. Good to hear he’s so confident because many Americans have
no faith in Washington’s ability to forge a deal.

He hits back at Romney’s favourite line about the US having a smaller navy now
than in 1916. “We also have fewer horses and fewer bayonets,” says
Obama. “This isn’t a game of battleship.”

21.45 (02.45) Everyone expected that both men would try to bring things
back to domestic politics. But not to this extent.

02.45 (21.45) The President is openly disdainful: “The math
doesn’t work”. He says his military budget is driven by strategy, not
politics, and will focus on the threats of the future including cyber
security and space. Both men agree that the deficit is a national security
problem.

02.40 (21.40) New question for Romney: how can you continue to expand
military spending and still balance the deficit?

Obama grins widely as Romney insists that his numbers add up. Romney begins by
saying he would scrap Obamacare and hand Medicaid powers back to the states
to create efficient programmes.

02.37 (21.37) Romney is quite thoughtful and discursive, talking about
trade opportunities in Latin America, the combined economy of which is
almost as large as China’s, apparently. Obama looks more aggressive and more
focused on his talking points. We’re wandered into a full-blown domestic
policy debate and are somehow discussing education policy and small business
regulation. Sorry, rest of the world.

This is kind of surreal, Romney is talking about how well fourth and eighth
graders in Massachusetts did in standardised tests. Schieffer is desperate
to go back to foreign policy, but neither candidate seems to want to go
there.

02.34 (21.34) Romney is on the offensive now, saying Obama has created
tension with Israel (on Iran), with Poland (on the missile shield), and
abandoned the Iranian protesters in 2009.

We have to stand for our principles, stand for our allies, stand for our
military and stand for our economy.

02.30 (21.30) Romney is the first candidate to link foreign policy to
strength at home, saying that America is “blessed” to carry the
mantle of peacemaker around the world but that Obama’s weak economy has
undermined its ability to be strong abroad.

02.29 (21.29) Obama drives home the wedge on Syria.

What you just heard from Governor Romney is that he doesn’t have different
ideas. And that’s because we’re doing exactly what we should be doing.

You’re going to hear this again and again tonight from the President: You want
to do more? Does that mean going to war?

02.28 (21.28) Both men are fully engaged in this, leaning forward,
looking at each other and not bothering to scribble notes on the pads in
front of them.

02.26 (21.26) I’ve never heard Obama take so much credit for the
intervention in Libya, reminding viewers that Gaddafi had more American
blood on his hands than anyone except Osama bin Laden.

02.25 (21.25) The two men basically agree: the US should not get
militarily involved and should be cautious who should get weapons. But
Romney stresses that America must play a leadership role in the crisis, and
ensure that the post-Assad regime is one that is friendly to the West.

02.24 (21.24) Next question is on Syria: after a year of killing
Assad is still in place. Is it time to reassess our strategy there. Obama
says the US is doing everything it can but ultimately Syrians are going to
have decide their own destiny.

What we’re seeing in Syria is heart-breaking… but we also need to
recognise that for us to get more involved in Syria is a serious step.

The President cautions against Romney’s suggestion that the US help get heavy
weapons to the opposition.

02.20 (21.20) Neither man is going by the expected playbook.

02.16 (21.16) Obama comes lunging at Romney again calling his strategy “wrong
and reckless”. Romney steps backward saying that “attacking me is
not a strategy”. It’s a gamble – not getting involved in the mud
wrestling in the hope of looking the more presidential. Will it work?

02.15 (21.15) Oh, and Obama drops the first zinger of the night as he
reminds Romney that he once described Russia as the US’s number one
geo-political foe

Here’s the clip that Romney probably regrets more than ever.

02.08 (21.08) Obama comes out swinging, saying he’s glad Romney
recognises his successes against al-Qaeda but saying that the Republican’s
strategy is “all over the map”. The President describes how he
helped “liberate” Libya at a fraction of a cost of Bush’s
expensive wars in Iraq.

02.03 (21.03) First question is on Benghazi: are the attacks an example
of American policy in the Middle East unraveling?

Romney says the Arab Spring brought a “great deal of hope” but now
in “nation after nation [there are] a number of disturbing events”
and he lists the rise of extremism across the Middle East. He says he
credits Obama for killing bin Laden but adds:

We can’t kill our way out of this mess. We need to put in place a
comprehensive strategy to help the world of Islam reject this radical
extremism.

Romney went on softer on the specific Libya question than you would have
expected, focusing instead on a broad strategy for rejecting extremism. Very
moderate, indeed.

02.00 (21.00) Tie update: Obama in blue, Romney in red. Obama lost
badly last time he wore blue. “Good to see you,” they both say as
they shake hands.

01.59 (20.59) Here are the topics for tonight’s debate. A decade after
9/11 and still four of the topics are on the Middle East. Here we go.

– Our longest war – Afghanistan and Pakistan

– Red Lines – Israel and Iran

– The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism – I

– The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism – II

– The Rise of China and Tomorrow’s World

01.58 (20.58) No repeat of last week’s prohibited audience outbursts,
says the moderator.

01.57 (20.57) In the press room, thousands of hands are preparing to
start filing in any number of languages. Schieffer is onstage and we’re
minutes from go time.

01.55 (20.55) Ann Romney and Michelle Obama are in the
house, both wearing dark dresses in contrast to the highlighter pink they
both opted for last time. Ann Romney has her sons sitting all around her.
Meanwhile the First Lady is sitting one row in front of Charlie Crist, the
former Florida governor who left the GOP in 2010 as the Tea Party became
flexed its muscles

For the first time, Michelle looks relatively relaxed.

01.40 (20.40) Tonight’s debate will be moderated by Bob Schieffer,
the definition of a veteran news anchor. The 75-year-old has been a CBS News
journalist since 1969 and covered national politics since the Nixon
administration.

This is the second time he’s moderated in one of Obama’s presidential debates
– he was in chair for the third and final debate of the 2008 election.
Schieffer, who some criticised as too old and too traditional to moderate
tonight’s debate, was also in charge of the final Bush-Kerry showdown in
2004

01.35 (20.35) Just apropos of that bracelet picture: here’s the
excruciating moment from the 2008 debate when then-Senator Obama appears to
forget the name of the dead soldier he is honouring.

01.30 (20.30) As Obama waved to supporters in Florida this morning we
caught a glimpse of the bright pink breast cancer bracelet (right) he’s been
wearing. It made me think of the black bracelet (left) he wore four years in
memory of Sgt Ryan David Jopek, a soldier from Wisconsin who was
killed in Iraq.

The change in bracelets is one way of tracking Obama’s changing political
needs. Four years ago, the one-term Illinois senator desperately needed to
prove that he could be trusted as Commander-in-Chief. Today, having killed
bin Laden and ended the Iraq war, he needs women voters to credit him with
restoring peace and reward him with their votes.

01.25 (20.25) The New York Times‘s John Hardwood has an
interesting piece on how George
W Bush looms over this election, and how his shadow gives Obama
cover.

For Mr. Obama, Mr. Bush’s economic record offers a shield against voters’
wrath over high unemployment and slow growth; majorities in polls describe
the nation’s economic woes as something the incumbent inherited rather than
caused. But like his Republican opponent, Mr. Obama rarely invokes his
predecessor’s name.

Mr. Obama benefits, too, from Americans’ weariness with the long wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan, which Mr. Bush initiated. By winding them down — and
by succeeding where Mr. Bush failed in hunting down Osama bin Laden — Mr.
Obama has lately won higher marks from voters on foreign policy than on his
job performance over all.

00.45 (19.45) Matt Romney (far right in the picture below) chimes in on
Twitter.

00.37 (19.37) After that brief interlude for polling news I want to go
back to food.

Here’s the Romney family chowing down on burgers at lunch time. Note that
while everyone else gets stuck in Tagg Romney is writing something on a
piece of paper. Maybe he’s making a list of reasons why
it would be a bad idea to punch the President.

00.30 (19.30) Politico’s Battleground
poll has Romney leading 49-47 among likely voters nationally, the
first time since May that the Republican has appeared ahead. By contrast,
the new CBS/New
York Times poll put Obama ahead 48-46. The conclusion? This thing is
really, really close.

00.10 (19.10) My colleague James Orr has a little more on the
President’s pre-debate meal. It’s the same as last time, is someone
in team Obama a little superstitious?

Barack Obama is taking no chances with his pre-presidential debate dinner
this evening, opting once again to tuck in to an all-American favourite of
steak and potatoes.

The Obama team, anxious to repeat the President’s success in the previous
clash against Republican challenger Mitt
Romney, have decided on a near-identical routine going into the
third televised tete-a-tete.

Aides for the President said he planned to spend a short time on Monday
night with close friends and former basketball teammates Marty Nesbitt and
Mike Ramos, exactly as he did last week.

He and the First Lady will then enjoy the same meal of steak and potatoes
as they had last Thursday, before Mr Obama takes to the stage at Lynn
University in Boca Raton, Florida. Aides for Mr Romney, meanwhile, revealed
that earlier today the governor had enjoyed a veggie burger with Cajun fries
for lunch, washed down with a vanilla milkshake.

23.45 (18.45) CBS News has released new
poll results hours before tonight’s debate, asking voters about the
issues that will face the next commander-in-chief. Obama leads Romney 50-41
on foreign policy in general but when you break down to specifics that lead
diminishes.

Terrorism and security: Obama +7

US policy towards Iran: Obama +3

US policy towards China: Even

US policy towards Israel: Romney +4

23.23 (18.23) I just got off the phone with Colby Rush, a
21-year-old university student from Dunkirk,
Ohio, who works part-time in his family’s ice cream store. For him Syria,
Iran and Afghanistan are far away places and distant issues. His most
pressing concern in terms of foreign policy is finding a way to bring down
petrol prices.

Colby (far right) with his family outside their ice cream shop in Dunkirk

But as we speak you start to get a sense of his view of the world and
America’s place in it. On Afghanistan he says: “I feel like if
we have to stay there, we need to stay and get it done” and is
unwilling to contemplate a hasty and humiliating American retreat.

But he stresses that US forces shouldn’t stay if American interests aren’t at
stake. “I don’t want to be cold but we’ve got enough problems in our
country. I like helping somebody out but if it doesn’t involve us then I
hate being in places while we’ve our own issues to be caring about.

And he is adamant that America is responsible for preventing Iran from getting
a nuclear weapon. “It’s worth fighting to keep them from having a bomb.
It’s fighting if we’re threatened or if we have allies who are threatened.”

He sympathises with the decision weighing on the President about whether to
strike Iran: “I wouldn’t want to make that judgement call. It’s
hard to criticise because I wouldn’t to be in the situation of making that
decision.”

Although he is planning on voting for Romney, Colby says he doesn’t believe
conservative pundits who tell him Obama is a liar.

I think he’s a good guy. I don’t think that he’s done a terrible job
considering the situation that he’s in. It’s just I wouldn’t mind somebody
new because I feel it’s time for someone else to have a shot.

But he isn’t planning on watching the debate tonight, and instead expects to
be watching the Cardinals against the Giants. “That doesn’t mean I
won’t switch over and have a look,” he adds.

22.46 (17.46) The Democratic super-PAC House Majority are
running an absolutely brutal/borderline tasteless ad against Republican
members of Congress who voted against stem cell research. Versions of this
ad are running around the country with a different Republican being blamed
for blocking potentially life-saving research.

22.15 (17.15) CNN just had John McCain on for an interview,
discussing his unique perspective as the only person to have debated both
Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.

I think they’re both excellent. I think the President has a great deal of
charisma and likeability on the part of the American people. But we saw in
the first debate that maybe he dulled a bit after four years and Mitt
obviously had to sharpen his skills going through those rather unpleasant
[Republican primary] debates that he went though. I tink they’re both going
to be excellent tonight.

Everyone remembers Obama and McCain facing off in 2008 but often forget how
aggressive McCain and Romney got with each other during the Republican
primaries. Here McCain accuses Romney of wanting a public timetable for
withdrawal from Iraq (ironically, it’s now Romney who accuses Obama of
projecting weakness by publicly announcing dates for withdrawal)

–

21.45 (16.45) This year’s debates have broken viewing records with 67
million turning into the first debate compared to 52.4 million for the first
debate in 2008. There was only the slightest of tail-offs for the second
debate with 65.6 million watching the face-off in New York.

But there’s reasons to expect that the numbers might be slightly lower for the
third and final outing. First of all, it’s centred around foreign policy,
which tends to rank fairly low on Americans’s list of priorities, Secondly,
a lot of people will have made up their minds by now and feel they don’t
need any more information.

But most importantly, it’s game night in America. Barack
Obama‘s Chicago Bears are playing their mid-western rivals the
Detroit Lions in the NFL while the Cardinals and the Giants square off in baseball
a game that could decide who goes to the World Series.

–

21.15 (16.15) Obama is having steak and potatoes for dinner again, as
he did before the last debate. Begs the question: what did he eat before his
disastrous performance in the first debate? Prunes? Anchovies?

20.45 (15.45) My colleague Tim Stanley has skewered
the New
Yorker’s endless 3,600-word endorsement of Obama. (As one Republican
put it to Politico: “If you spell reëlect with an umlaut, odds
are your endorsement will go for Obama”)

“The re-election of Barack Obama is a matter of great urgency,” conclude
the editors in a studied tone of “no urgency at all”. But then this is their
style. Reading the New Yorker is like discovering some artefact from the
1920s. Its language, its manner and its cultural outlook has hardly changed.
There’s some value in that, for it remains a discoverer and promoter of
literary talent.

But on politics, it speaks only for Manhattanites of the martini-drinking
variety who desperately want to be Dorothy Parker or Lionel Trilling –
imagining that, in Trilling’s words, “Liberalism is not only the dominant
but even the sole intellectual tradition.” Conservatism is humorous at best,
a vile interruption to progress at worst. The rest of America does not share
that prejudice – which is why this endorsement couldn’t be less important if
it had been written on the back of a packet of cigarettes.

20.35 (15.35) Meanwhile, Biden is giving equally sincere advice
at a fire house in Ohio:

Biden approached two children standing near the end of the line, a boy of
about 8 or 9 and a pre-teen girl of about 11 or 12, and threw his arm around
them. Looking at the girl, smiling, VPOTUS called over her father,
firefighter Jerry Miluk. “I hope you’ve got a big fence around your
house, Biden said. He added to the girl, “No serious dates until you’re
30.”

20.25 (15.25) Ryan was giving them a bit of that Midwestern sincerity
stuff in Colorado a little earlier:

We are going to run to these problems, to solve these problems, before
they get out of our control. That’s what leaders do. We’re not going to kick
the can down the road. We’re going to lead. And I’ll tell you what, we’re
not going to spend the next four years blaming other people for our
problems. We’re going to take responsibility. No more excuses; no more
blaming

–

19.55 (14.55) Obama has arrived at Lynn University in Boca Raton
for a quick walk through of the debate site. Per the pool report:

The president’s motorcade arrived at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.,
site of tonight’s debate, at 2:06 p.m. after an uneventful ride from the
airport.

As the motorcade got closer to the university, there were scattered
supporters of the president along the route, holding signs such as “Women
for Obama” and “Students for Obama” and “Forward.”
There were also signs proclaiming “Fire the Socialist” and many
Romney/Ryan signs, too.

Print pool is holding in the van while the president does his walk-through
of the debate site.

17.15 (14.15) Paul Ryan is racing through Colorado, trying to
extend the Republican’s paper thin lead there. His events have been
hit-and-run and often he speaks for less than 15 minutes. Yesterday in
Colorado Springs he literally spoke at the hangar where his aircraft was
waiting to take off.

^{Picture by Alex Moe of

NBC News}

18.55 (13.55) Things are definitely getting crowded in Florida. Eric
Fehrnstrom, one of Romney’s top aides, and Bill Burton, head of
the liberal super-PAC Priorities USA, who you might expect would do
anything to avoid each other, may even be staying at the same hotel.

18.35 (13.35) While Obama and Romney are very much focused on the
debate in Florida this evening, Paul Ryan is busy hitting the
campaign trail in Colorado
today, another key swing state. Here’s a video the Romney campaign is
putting up in the state today, highlighting how farmers and small business
owners say they are too uncertain about the future to make investments.

18.30 (13.30) Air Force One has touched down in West Beach,
Florida and soon the President will be rolling for the debate site.
Seven-a-and-a-half hours to go, stay tuned.

18.25 (13.25) Update on the most pressing issue of the day: the Biden
supporter I mentioned earlier seems to have corrected the spelling on her
t-shirt with the help of a little tip-ex.

The update and the picture come from Amy
Dudley, Biden’s campaign press secretary. That is some
forward-looking flacking.

–

18.10 (13.10) Gallup has just released its daily
tracking poll: among likely voters Romney is up six points on 51-45,
a slip of one point since yesterday. Not happy numbers for Chicago.

18.00 (13.00) I’ve done a quick run down of the two candidates’ positions
on the different foreign policy challenges facing the United States.
We’ve tried to drill past the rhetoric and highlight the subtle but
significant differences in the course each man would take:

–

Iran

Obama: Would continue with a sanctions regime to put pressure on the
Iranian government and its economy. Has dismissed “loose talk of war”
with Iran but would use military force to prevent Iran from building a
nuclear bomb

Romney: Would announce public “red lines” which Iran’s
nuclear programme could not cross without triggering military action and
says the Islamic Republic should not even have the capacity to build a bomb.
Would put US carriers on regular patrols in the Persian Gulf and eastern
Mediterranean and favours a return to the Bush-era “missile shield”
based in Eastern Europe if Iran were to quickly develop long-range missiles.

Syria

Obama: Has provided “non-lethal” aide to the Syrian rebels,
including communications equipment, but is wary of arming them directly.
White House has made clear it does not favour military intervention but
would become involved if the Assad regime were to use chemical weapons.

Romney: Despite tough rhetoric, Romney’s position is largely the same
as the President’s. He has not proposed military action and supports arming
the rebels for third-party nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Afghanistan

Obama: Has ordered withdrawal of US combat troops at the end of 2014
but signed a treaty committing small numbers of American forces to
counter-terrorism and training missions until 2024.

Romney: Supports the 2014 withdrawal but has said US forces might stay
longer depending on conditions on the ground. Has been critical of the White
House for setting “public timetables” for troop withdrawal.

17.50 (12.50) Tonight’s debate is taking place in Florida,
the biggest prize in swing state politics. Obama won in 2008, helping to cap
an overwhelming electoral college victory, but many feared it would be
beyond his reach this time around. The polls have given Romney a slim but
fairly consistent lead there and Democrats privately concede that their
chances are much better in the Midwestern states of Ohio, Wisconsin and
Michigan.

One reason for Obama’s difficulties in the Sunshine State is the ravaging
impact of home foreclosures. Earlier this year my colleague Alistair Goode
traveled to Tampa to meet some of Florida’s newly homeless

17.25 (12.25) Oh dear. Biden is speaking at a rally in Canton,
Ohio, where an enthusiastic supporter appears to have made her own t-shirt
proudly bearing the Obama campaign slogan “Forward”. Unfortunately
this lady, on the right of the photograph, seems to have missed the R in the
word, so her shirt reads “Foward”.

^{Picture by Andrew

Kaczynski}

Oops. But remember that Team Romney managed to spell America as “Amercia”
in a iPhone app released earlier this year.

16.50 (11.50) Obama’s big strategy tonight is also a pretty simple one:
make Romney appear unfit to be commander-in-chief. It’s a theme his
surrogates have been hitting hard in the last few days. Here’s a memo
put out today by John Kerry, the head of the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee and the
man desperate to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

We have that steady and strong leader today in President Obama. Mitt
Romney, on the other hand, offers nothing but endless bluster and a record
of dangerous blunders, failing at every turn to show he’s up to the
challenge. In fact, Governor Romney has outlined fewer specific policies for
how he would lead on national security issues than any presidential
candidate in my memory.

He is an extreme and expedient candidate who lacks the judgment and vision
so vital for the Oval Office, and he’s at the top of the most inexperienced
foreign policy ticket to run for president and vice president in decades.

It is astonishing that Romney has run for president for six years and never
once bothered to put forward a plan to end the war in Afghanistan, for
example, or to formulate a policy to go after al-Qaeda. Romney, who once
even said “a president is not a foreign policy expert,” appears unprepared
to be either. It’s even more astonishing that Governor Romney took a foreign
policy trip overseas and failed to outline any policy – but managed to
insult America’s closest ally.

16.35 (11.35) Yahoo!
has built a machine that lets you see what TV shows get the most
political adverts. Analysis of TV stations in the top 50 media markets found
that The Olympics saw the highest percentage of Republican adverts. For the
Democrats, it was the sitcom “2 Broke Girls”.

16.02 (11.02) More polling news. Mitt Romney has reached the 50 per
cent mark for the first time in Colorado, leading Obama by four in the swing
state, according
to the latest Rasmussen Reports poll. Two weeks ago, Obama was up by
one.

15.58 (10.58) The US debate has been one of the great pieces of
electoral theatre since it was first televised in 1960 between John F
Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

But The
Toronto Star has had a look at how the TV debate has, like most
American things, exported around the world.

Germany held its first televised debate in 2002, Ukraine in 2004 and Spain in
2008, while the United Kingdom only started in 2010. Ivory Coast was the
first African country to hold a live candidates’ debate in 2010 and though
candidates in Uganda faced off on TV in 2011, incumbent president Yuri
Museveni didn’t show up. Kenya hopes to hold a series of debates before its
next election in 2013.

“For better or worse, debates are becoming more common around the world,”
said William Benoit, a professor at Ohio University who studies political
communication.

Debates can increase viewers’ knowledge of political issues, affect
perceptions of candidates’ characters and even change vote choice, Benoit
says. But debates can also entrench voters, turning elections into sparring
matches where viewers simply cheer for their team.

15.20 (10.20) The bar for Mitt Romney is admittedly low tonight, as it
usually is for a challenger against an incumbent. Therefore the expectations
are low. Not so for Barack Obama.

The
guardian this morning looked at Obama’s foreign policy successes and failures,
ranging from the Middle East Peace Process, to the Iraq war, to his handling
of the Arab Spring. The conclusion? A mixed bag – as it always is. Ian Black
looks at Obama’s foreign policy post Cairo speech in June 2009, when he
promised to seek a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims
around the world.

The 55-minute speech was widely praised for its eloquence and ambition, but
the reviews were mixed. For one commentator, the key was to get beyond the
courtesies – mujamalat in Arabic – to the beef. Honeyed words were welcome,
went a typical response. But would actions follow? Was Obama really any more
than “a Bush in sheep’s clothing”?

Now, as the end of his term nears, the answer is clear: Obama was different
from his predecessor. Yet his record is as varied as the responses to the
Cairo address. An extraordinary chain of unforeseen events – a hazard for
any leader – has created new circumstances and new dilemmas.

15.10 (10.10) What of the swing states then? National averages may show
a dead heat, but it’s the swing states that matter. The latest Quinnipiac
University/CBS News poll shows that Obama is holding on to a five
point lead over Romney in Ohio – 50 to 45 per cent. That lead has almost
halved compared to a month ago, but is still significant.

Obama is streets ahead with women, while he is also viewed as better on
foreign policy, the focus of tonight’s debate – 50 to 43 per cent.

15.00 (10.00) Ah you can’t keep a good man down.. or Donald Trump. Politico
has picked up a report on The Donald, saying he will reveal “very
big” news about Barack Obama by Wednesday, but declined to say what it
was.

Something very, very big concerning the president of the United States… It’s
going to be very big. I know one thing — you will cover it in a very big
fashion.

My money is either on him saying something about his birth certificate, or
announcing that he will be a special guest contestant on the next series of
The Apprentice.

14.29 (9.29) Is the Romney campaign running out of gas? Has his bubble
burst? Is it all just hot air? (all puns welcome) … A “blimp-like”
aircraft carrying an advertisement for the Republican presidential
candidate has made an emergency landing in Florida. The two people aboard
got out safely when the aircraft landed in the town of Davie. Police Captain
Dale Engle said the deflated aircraft carried an advertisement that read: “America
needs Romney.” No one on the ground was injured in the incident. Let’s
hope for Romney’s sake this isn’t a metaphor for his campaign (I’ll stop
now).

14.14 (9.14) Our blogger Dan Hodges says
that the Obama campaign has unveiled its secret weapon – Boris Johnson.
It’s new advert highlights Mitt Romney’s “five easy steps of foreign
policy”. The new campaign ad also makes note of The
Telegraph’s commentary during Romney’s “charm offensive”, visiting
London.

The blond bombshell has been propelled into the heart of the Romney encampment
in the shape of a new Democratic campaign advert. Released in advance of
today’s final debate on international affairs, our mayor features in a
snappy guide to “Mitt Romney’s five easy steps to foreign policy”.

“There’s a guy called Mitt Romney,” Obama’s Bullingdon booster tells the
cheering Hyde Park crowds on the eve of the Olympics, “who wants to know
whether we’re ready. Are we ready?”

14.10 (9.10) With the focus on foreign policy, the
BBC has down a rundown of how some countries have figures in this
campaign.

For Britain, Obama was greeted by David Cameron, and talked college
basketball. Romney meanwhile had to deal with a disastrous trip to Britain
just before the Olympics, almost single-handedly galvanising Britain’s
Olympics support.

13.45 (8.45) Chris Cillizza, of
The Washington Post’s The Fix, gives us five things to look out for in
tonight’s debate. Romney will have a third shot at connecting a punch on
Libya. Cillizza believes the Republican has swung and missed twice. Another
thing to look at is whether or not tonight’s debate will give us a surprise.

With the level of preparation that goes into these debates by both candidates
— not to mention the litigating of the format to within an inch of its life
by the campaign lawyers — surprises are a rarity. But the
foreign-policy-themed debate does offer the possibility that a question is
asked for which one (or both) of the candidates doesn’t have an answer at
the ready… A gap in knowledge would be very problematic for either man,
but even more so for Romney, who, as mentioned above, largely remains an
unknown (or unproven) commodity on foreign policy for most voters.

13.15 (8.15) From Mike Allen’s Politico Playbook this morning, on what
Barack Obama will say tonight about the New York Times’ claims that the
alleged opening of one-on-one talks with Iran, via a “senior
administration official”.

I have put in place crippling sanctions. Just in the last month, you’ve seen
their oil revenues collapse, their currency collapse. I’ve said I’d do
everything I have to, to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Governor Romney has been unable to articulate any policy ideas that I’m not
already doing, except go to war. The story itself [New York Times report of
a US-Iran agreement, not just an opening] isn’t true. But if Iran is
pressured to come back to the table, that’s an opportunity. And we should
have a conversation. It would be irresponsible, frankly, to reject it.
Because your only other option is military.”

12.48 (7.48) Who says Romney can’t let his hair down? Ahead of
tonight’s debate, his staff faced off against the reporters who have been
covering his campaign.

The
New York Times, or Gawker
which is not behind a paywall, carries an amusing account of the pick-up
game, where Romney made an obvious fat joke at the expense of Governor Chris
Christie – “Where’s Chris Christie when we need him? He’s our line.”

He also apparently kept referencing the now defunct TV show ‘Friday Night
Lights’, which is about High School American Football, with the motto: “Clear
Eyes, Full Hearts, America Can’t Lose”. Romney has apparently begun
quoting it on the campaign trail.

_{Mitt Romney talks with “Romney team” captain Gail Gitcho (R),

Romney campaign communication directrice, at the start of a friendly match

of flag football between his campaign staff and members of the media

following his campaign, in Delray Beach, Florida}

12.40 (7.40) For those of you who enjoy your US politics, and also your
rap battles (big crossover group), this YouTube
video may be just the right thing for you. Brought to you by Epic
Rap Battles of History, who have turned their head to such battles as “Frank
Sinatra vs Freddie Mercury” and “Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates”,
this has been viewed more than 14 million times and does a pretty decent job
of breaking down the key difference between the two men.

Personally, my favourite part though is when Abe Lincoln flies in being
carried by an eagle, and tells both candidates to get their act together. If
only he were around to moderate tonight’s debate.

12.28 (7.28) Looking forward from the debate, Politico
has broken down how Obama and Romney plan to win with just over two weeks to
go until election day. Romney, to coin an American football term “is
suddenly playing offence” all over, while Obama is “embracing a
fundamentally defensive strategy”. One of the big problems for Romney
though is that his campaign is being hobbled by early campaign decisions,
namely failing to develop a competitive groundbase in key swing states
including Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Both campaigns are confident they can win. But their theory-of-the-case
victory strategies couldn’t be more different. A buoyant Team Romney sees
itself driving into Obama territory on a tailwind of enthusiasm. Team Obama
is relying on a three-state solution — winning Ohio, Wisconsin and Nevada
puts him over the top — and more “Hit Mitt” messaging geared at driving
Democrats to the polls, a hybrid of hope and the hammer.

12.20 (7.20) One of the key issues tonight, if not the key issue, will
be the Obama administration’s handling of the Benghazi consulate attack.
While Romney will be the clear underdog tonight, last month’s attack that
resulted in the death of US ambassador Chris Stevens gives
him a golden opportunity to go on the attack, explains our US editor
Peter Foster.

The picture of the Obama administration’s bungling of the Benghazi crisis
that has emerged piece by piece in recent weeks has weakened Mr Obama’s
claim to be the cool-headed realist who defends of America’s security while
extricating the country from expensive and unwinnable wars.

If refusing requests for additional security in Libya even though militant
attacks were on the rise looks bad for Mr Obama, then trying (and failing)
to pass off the assault as spontaneous demonstration gone wrong in order to
save the Administration’s blushes, looks even worse.

On Monday Mr Romney has a chance to make those two charges stick. As
Richard Grenell, a Republican strategist who served briefly as Mr Romney’s
foreign policy spokesman, told The Daily Telegraph, Mr Romney needs to “drive
home that Obama’s lack of leadership does not stop at the US border”.

12.10 (7.10) For those of you that need a reminder, here are the
highlights of the first two presidential debates in a total of 120 seconds.
Mitt Romney was overwhelmingly judged the winner of Debate 1, with Barack
Obama given the points for 2. Who will come out on top tonight?

Highlights
of first presidential debate:

Highlights
of second presidential debate:

12.06pm (7.06am) Tonight’s debate focuses on foreign policy first and
foremost. But Alastair Good from Telegraph TV has teamed up with our
graphics department looking at each of the issues concerning voters this
November, ranging from ObamaCare to the Economy to Home Foreclosure. This
excellent graphic is worth a look at. And here is the specific focus
on foreign policy, looking at Helena, Montana.

11.56 (6.56) As Alex Spillius, our diplomatic correspondent, notes this
morning, with 16 days, one debate and 200 or so hours of campaigning left,
the race is a virtual dead heat.

The polls are tied within the margin of error, and while most Electoral
College projections forecast a narrow Barack Obama victory, the
president’s expected margin has shrunk considerably in the past three weeks.

Tonight’s third and final debate in Boca Raton, Florida will therefore be
all the more tense. Devoted to foreign affairs, a single calamitous comment
could conceivably make the difference to winning or losing at this point –
something like Gerald Ford’s remark in 1976 against Jimmy Carter that “there
is no Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe”, for instance.

A similar sort of blunder tonight seems unlikely. Like many first-time
candidates, Romney is not comfortable with overseas policy, but he will be
thoroughly prepared and is a highly competent debater. Obama, after his
disastrously listless first debate, shouldn’t mess up again.

11.55am (6.55am EST) Good morning, or good afternoon, depending on
where you are joining us from. Welcome to our build-up to the third and
final US
presidential election debate between Barack
Obama and Mitt
Romney.

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