Obama won the debate but Romney showed he is presidential material

Dear Editor,

In my analysis, President Obama won the third and final debate on foreign affairs as was expected.  Guyanese I spoke with and my students also feel Obama won handily.  Before the debate, we all thought Obama had the advantage because of his experience.

Foreign Affairs is Obama’s strong point with his four years experience as Commander in Chief and everyone expected him to show off his skills and he did so quite competently.  He belittled Romney several time especially over horses and bayonets and submarines. But Romney came out strong and showed he is Presidential material.  What struck me about Romney is his knowledge about so many foreign policy issues and relevance of Middle Eastern countries. He appeared as someone who has mastered foreign policy issues.

With no political gaffes (mistakes), both men came out as winners.

Polls show Americans place foreign policy well down on their list of priorities for this presidential election.

They are focused on the economy. TV watchers were more interested in judging how each candidate handles issues and whether Romney is leadership material.

Because both did well, I don’t think either candidate would see any significant movement in poll numbers. But as has happened over the three weeks, I expect Romney to close the gap in the battleground states and be tied with the President nationally in popular support.

This means the election will remain tight till voting day on November 6.

The race is very, very tight and both candidates used the final debate to win over undecided voters and to change minds.  I don’t think many minds would have changed from Monday night’s performance. But I still give Obama the edge to get the 270 electoral votes (because polls have him ahead) needed to win but Romney is looking better by the day and appeared very Presidential in all three debates and as such an upset victory for him is not an impossibility. Polls show Obama holds a lead over Romney on foreign affairs while Romney holds an advantage in economic issues and creating jobs.

Already four million ballots have been cast in early voting in more than two dozen states with exit polls giving Obama the edge. Obama appears on course to win safe blue states and the District of Columbia that account for 237 (some polls have Obama at 253).  The same is true for Romney in safe red Republican 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).

Both men came into the debate with a plan.  Romney wanted to tie the economy with foreign policy and show he is the man who can get the economy out of its slump. Obama wanted to paint Romney as too reckless and dangerous to put into the White House and someone who will take the US to war.

But Romney debunked that image of him as a militarist itching to strike adversaries like Iran with a big stick.

He used the word “peace” many times sending a message that he is a moderate.  Romney even spoke positively of the United Nations and the need to work in cooperation with it. Romney moved towards the centre rejecting every description as a warmonger.  Romney, in essence, said he is a man of peace but peace comes from a strong military and a strong economy is needed to project military power.  “Attacking me is not a foreign policy strategy”.

Both candidates time and again brought their answers to foreign policy issues back to the domestic economy, jobs, and of building an America for the 21st century. Romney recounted his five-point economic plan.  His closing statement emphasized the economy as much as foreign policy while Obama’s closing statement focused mostly on foreign policy. The next two weeks would be interesting as the candidates move around the ten battleground states to pick up electoral votes to reach the magical figure of 270.

Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram