Who won the debate between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney? The two candidates debated foreign policy in tonight's third and final presidential debate before the Nov. 6 election.
With early poll results, Obama appears to have won the debate. Leading up to tonight's debate, Romney was leading after a decisive victory in the first debate, and Obama rallying in the second. The focus for the third and final showdown was foreign policy and the moderator was Bob Schieffer, host of CBS' "Face the Nation."
Foreign policy was not considered to be Romney's strong suit, and Obama had the "We caught Osama bin Laden" trump card in his back pocket. Romney responded by criticizing the Obama administration for the way they handled recent events in Libya.
A CBS News poll of voters are backing President Barack Obama, with 53 percent of respondents giving the victory to the president compared to 23 percent who saw Romney as the night's winner. The remaining 24 percent, meanwhile, saw the night as a draw. On the topic of who would do a better job in national security, Obama again came out on top, 64 percent to 36 percent.
CNN's survey of registered voters who watched the debate (a demographic that traditionally leans Republican, fwiw) paints a slightly different picture, but one that nonetheless shows Obama on top. Forty-eight percent said they thought the president gave the strong performance compared to 40 percent who thought Romney did.
During the second debate, Romney said he had 'binders full of women" when asked about adding more women to the cabinet which became an internet meme, with even a Tumblr site set up where people posted anecdotal images of Romney with binders full of women. Horses and bayonets" was the catch phrase of Monday night's presidential debate, leading Obama's statement to be the most tweeted comment on Twitter.
Obama gave Romney little quarter over the GOP rival's repeated criticism that the U.S. Navy is too small and has fewer ships than it did in 1916.
"Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets," Obama said, painting Romney as out of touch and arguing the nature of America's military has changed. "We have these things called 'aircraft carriers,' and planes land on them."
