Obama takes the offensive in US debate

Obama takes the offensive in US debate

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney locked horns, and also found areas of agreement, in a debate over foreign policy which was often hijacked by both candidates to speak about the economy.

The two men went into the third, and final, US presidential debate before the November 6 poll effectively tied but also separated by small margins in the battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Mr Obama was the more aggressive of the duo, behaving as the underdog trying to goad his opponent into sharp argument.

But Mr Romney mostly refused to take the bait, agreeing with Mr Obama on the handling of Syria and Egypt, endorsing his use of drones and refusing to re-engage on the controversy of the handling of the September attack of the US consulate in Libya.

Apart from forays into the domestic economy, the 90-minute debate was focused on the Middle East, Pakistan, Iran and terrorism, with the last quarter of an hour on China.

Mr Obama opened strongly, charging that Mr Romney’s diplomatic policy was “all over the map” and saying he had erred in calling Russia America’s biggest “geopolitical threat”.

“You seem to want to import the foreign policy of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s,” Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama also derided Mr Romney’s longstanding criticism that the US navy had fewer ships in its fleet than it had just after the second world war.

“We also have fewer horses and bayonets,” Mr Obama said. “We have these things called aircraft carriers. This is not ‘Battleship’.” Mr Obama quipped.

Mr Romney, who started the debate slowly, offered a general critique of Mr Obama’s foreign policy, saying it lacked a broader base to tackle social and political problems in the Middle East.

“We can’t kill our way out of this mess,” he said, after complimenting Mr Obama on the death of Osama bin Laden.

“We’re going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help the world of Islam and other parts of the world, reject this radical violent extremism, which is certainly not on the run.”

“In nowhere in the world is America’s influence greater than it was four years ago,” he said. “I don’t see our influence growing in the world; I see our influence receding.”

Mr Romney argued more strongly as the debate went on, repeatedly pivoting back to the economy, linking America’s economic strength to national security.

“We believe we have the momentum coming out of tonight,” said Ed Gillespie, a senior Romney adviser, adding that the Republican candidate had enunciated the “clear correlation between our economy and military strategy”.

Mr Obama’s camp, however, was buoyant. Jim Messina, Mr Obama’s campaign manager, said: “You saw a raw and reckless Mitt Romney tonight – he was trying to make up new positions.”

Towards the close of the debate, Mr Romney also tried to confront criticism of his opposition to the government-backed bailout of the US auto industry, an issue that could sway the outcome of the election in Michigan and Ohio.

“I am a son of Detroit. I was born in Detroit,” he said, to emphasise he would never have acted to harm the industry.

Early polls, including one conducted by CBS, awarded the debate to Mr Obama, while CNN viewers asked the winner of the debate favoured Mr Obama by 48 per cent to Mr Romney’s 40 per cent.

But their encounter is unlikely to be as decisive as the first debate in October, which Mr Romney dominated.

With the airwaves and the internet flooded by a record number of political attack ads, the debates have offered voters a chance to take an unfiltered look at the candidates.

As in 2008, foreigners preferred Mr Obama over the Republican candidate by a wide margin, according to a poll conducted in 21 nations for the BBC World Service.

Of the countries polled, France was the most strongly pro-Obama, with 72 per cent supporting his re-election and just 2 per cent preferring Mr Romney. Australia (67 per cent), Canada (66), Nigeria (66), and the UK (65) were other countries with large majorities favouring Mr Obama.