Round II goes to aggressive Obama
18 Oct 2012 2:23 AM GMT
A decidedly more aggressive president Barack Obama went on the offensive right from the word go early on Wednesday morning as he clashed with the Republican challenger Mitt Romney over their conflicting visions in their second encounter.
Romney, who by all accounts bested the president in their first encounter two weeks ago to put his campaign to the White House on an upswing, in turn used Tuesday night's pivotal second encounter at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, to recount a litany of Obama's own failings as president.
Meeting just three weeks before the 6 November presidential poll, the two contenders went at each other often on topics ranging from the economy, taxes and outsourcing to energy, women's rights and immigration in a tension filled exchange.
Coming into his own, Obama did not disappoint his supporters and aides who wanted him to put in a 'stronger, more assertive performance' at the second debate after his admittedly bad night at Denver to hand over to his rival an advantage that he had enjoyed for weeks.
Debate watchers were divided on who won this round of debate, with 46 per cent in a CNN international survey saying that Obama won the debate, while 39 per cent said that Romney fared better. The seven-point margin falls within the poll's sampling error. As many as 73 per cent people said that Obama did better than expected, compared to 37 per cent who said the same about Romney.
The results offer a stark contrast from the first presidential showdown of 3 October, when 67 per cent of debate watchers said Romney fared better while 25 per cent said that Obama won the debate.
But how far his aggressive performance would help Obama get back into the game is yet to be seen with most media reports describing the race for the White House as either a virtual tie or Obama's to lose.
A National Poll Average by Real Clear Politics, an influential political news aggregator, show Romney just 0.4 percentage points ahead with 47.4 percent to Obama's 47 per cent.
But, Obama still enjoys 201 to 191 vote advantage over Romney with 146 votes too close to call in the 538 strong electoral college. It takes 270 votes to win the White House.
Romney, who by all accounts bested the president in their first encounter two weeks ago to put his campaign to the White House on an upswing, in turn used Tuesday night's pivotal second encounter at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, to recount a litany of Obama's own failings as president.
Meeting just three weeks before the 6 November presidential poll, the two contenders went at each other often on topics ranging from the economy, taxes and outsourcing to energy, women's rights and immigration in a tension filled exchange.
Coming into his own, Obama did not disappoint his supporters and aides who wanted him to put in a 'stronger, more assertive performance' at the second debate after his admittedly bad night at Denver to hand over to his rival an advantage that he had enjoyed for weeks.
Debate watchers were divided on who won this round of debate, with 46 per cent in a CNN international survey saying that Obama won the debate, while 39 per cent said that Romney fared better. The seven-point margin falls within the poll's sampling error. As many as 73 per cent people said that Obama did better than expected, compared to 37 per cent who said the same about Romney.
The results offer a stark contrast from the first presidential showdown of 3 October, when 67 per cent of debate watchers said Romney fared better while 25 per cent said that Obama won the debate.
But how far his aggressive performance would help Obama get back into the game is yet to be seen with most media reports describing the race for the White House as either a virtual tie or Obama's to lose.
A National Poll Average by Real Clear Politics, an influential political news aggregator, show Romney just 0.4 percentage points ahead with 47.4 percent to Obama's 47 per cent.
But, Obama still enjoys 201 to 191 vote advantage over Romney with 146 votes too close to call in the 538 strong electoral college. It takes 270 votes to win the White House.
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