Third 2012 Presidential Debate Impressions

Less than a week after the town hall meeting, on October 22 President Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney met in the final matchup before the election. There would be no Saturday Night Live skit based on this confrontation. Again I headed to the meeting place with the large crowd, eager to follow along on Twitter and on IRC. Both candidates tried as much as possible not to talk on foreign policy during this debate as much as the forum wanted them to.

The main problem with the foreign policy debate is that the candidate positions are too similar to merit an actual discussion of the issues. For example, on Libya, both sides are trying to save face. While Obama accused his opponent of making a political issue out of September’s terrorist attack, Romney talked about increasing unrest in the reason in general. The Republican candidate blamed the problems on Obama’s poor leadership, but the President pointed out that Romney had nothing new to offer. If you’re looking for a candidate that doesn’t want to antagonize Iran and get us involved in another Middle East conflict, look somewhere else.

Obama still managed to burn Romney during this debate. One of the main differences between the candidates is that Romney promises to keep funding the military, even if the military itself is not requesting it. It has something to do with being strong in a time of danger. Obama answered that the military has changed, so it doesn’t need more outdated equipment like horses and bayonets. Even on other issues, Obama didn’t let up. When both candidates wanted to talk about education policy, Romney touted his states achievements, but Obama interrupted that Romney was citing figures from before he was governor. Romney attempted to move the focus away from foreign policy to the budget, but Obama seemed to hold his position on issues like trade with China. The President brought up Romney’s Chinese investments encouraging outsourcing, holding off Romney’s accusations of funding bad investments like Solyndra.

After about ninety minutes, the four weeks of debate were over. Tomorrow is Election Day in which many Americans will vote for candidates including ones for the highest office in the land. I know I’m getting out of the house earlier than I usually do to exercise my civic duty as I did a few months ago, and I hope there are plenty people like me that will do the same. That’s  one thing that makes America great.