The final presidential debate: Obama attacks early and often
The president is quick to go on the offensive, while Mitt Romney searches for high ground
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
At the final presidential debate Monday night in Boca Raton, Florida, President Obama bolted out of the starting gates with a flurry of attacks on Mitt Romney's foreign policy proposals. "The 1980s called — they want their foreign policy back," Obama snapped at one point, referring to Romney's assertion that Russia was the U.S.'s top geopolitical foe. "No finger-pointing yet," says Adam Nagourney at The New York Times, "but Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney are talking over each other, challenging each other's facts and veracity, as Mr. Obama comes in — again — seemingly intent on not giving an inch to Mr. Romney after his disastrous first debate." Here, some reactions from the Twitterverse:
For his part, Romney appeared reluctant to get in a scrappy fight. He congratulated Obama on ordering the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Sounding like a foreign policy dove, he focused on women's equality in the Middle East and economic development, and said, "We can't kill our way out of this mess." He also declined to attack Obama on the administration's response to the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. However, he did ding Obama for telling Russian officials that he would wait until after the presidential election before negotiating a missile shield in Europe. Many commented that it was part of Romney's attempt to look presidential:
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.