Presidential debates may alter course of US vote
Source: Agencies |
October 4, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
US President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney were to come face to face for the first time in the presidential campaign for a high-risk nationally televised debate that offers the challenger his best opportunity to revive his struggling presidential campaign.
Romney, running short on time to reverse his fortunes, is angling for a breakout performance in the three 90-minute presidential debates scheduled over the next three weeks.
Obama, well aware that the remaining five weeks of the race still offer enough time for Romney to catch up, is determined to avoid any campaign-altering mistakes as he presses his case for a second term.
The candidates will be speaking to a TV audience of tens of millions in one of those rare moments when a critical mass of Americans collectively fix their attention on one event. Fifty-two million people tuned in to the first debate four years ago, and 80 percent of the nation's adults reported watching at least a bit of the debates between Obama and Republican John McCain.
Though polls show the race remains tight ahead of the November 6 vote, Obama clearly has momentum and the edge not only in national polls, but in the battleground states that will effectively decide the election.
Attempt to regain ground
Romney's campaign is looking to regain ground on Obama after falling further behind in the wake of a secretly recorded video showing the Republican telling campaign donors that 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax and believe they are victims who are entitled to government assistance. As a candidate, he said, "my job is not to worry" about them.
Recent polls show Obama with a modest lead in many of the nine battleground states that will decide the election, and all but two of those states have early voting, meaning more people are already locking in their votes every day. The most important of those states, Ohio, started early voting on Tuesday.
But Republicans with access to Romney's polling data said on Tuesday that he has begun regaining some support among independent voters, enabling him to cut into the president's advantage.
Because the presidential election is not decided by popular vote but rather by in a state-by-state contest, a handful of so-called battleground states, which do not reliably vote either Republican or Democratic, will likely decide the race.
Romney, running short on time to reverse his fortunes, is angling for a breakout performance in the three 90-minute presidential debates scheduled over the next three weeks.
Obama, well aware that the remaining five weeks of the race still offer enough time for Romney to catch up, is determined to avoid any campaign-altering mistakes as he presses his case for a second term.
The candidates will be speaking to a TV audience of tens of millions in one of those rare moments when a critical mass of Americans collectively fix their attention on one event. Fifty-two million people tuned in to the first debate four years ago, and 80 percent of the nation's adults reported watching at least a bit of the debates between Obama and Republican John McCain.
Though polls show the race remains tight ahead of the November 6 vote, Obama clearly has momentum and the edge not only in national polls, but in the battleground states that will effectively decide the election.
Attempt to regain ground
Romney's campaign is looking to regain ground on Obama after falling further behind in the wake of a secretly recorded video showing the Republican telling campaign donors that 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax and believe they are victims who are entitled to government assistance. As a candidate, he said, "my job is not to worry" about them.
Recent polls show Obama with a modest lead in many of the nine battleground states that will decide the election, and all but two of those states have early voting, meaning more people are already locking in their votes every day. The most important of those states, Ohio, started early voting on Tuesday.
But Republicans with access to Romney's polling data said on Tuesday that he has begun regaining some support among independent voters, enabling him to cut into the president's advantage.
Because the presidential election is not decided by popular vote but rather by in a state-by-state contest, a handful of so-called battleground states, which do not reliably vote either Republican or Democratic, will likely decide the race.
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