Obama under pressure to come alive in debate rematch

President Barack Obama's camp is promising that the American public will see a more energized and visionary incumbent on Tuesday night as Obama tries to keep Republican challenger Mitt Romney at bay.

Romney's campaign got a much-needed shot in the arm two weeks ago when the Republican came out swinging in the first matchup between the two candidates, while Obama appeared passive and tongue-tied at times.

The strong debate performance helped Romney reverse his slide in the polls, and recent surveys put the race for the White House at a virtual dead heat just three weeks ahead of the Nov. 6 election.

Read more about it at Business Recorder

Read more »

Biden and Ryan Clash Mightily

Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan, the top surrogates for Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, clashed mightily in a bruising give-and-take, with both men ardently trying to break open one of the closest U.S. presidential contests in recent history.

With less than a month before the Nov. 6 election, analysts on both sides of the deep partisan divide gripping the country were touting victory Friday after the one and only vice presidential debate. The confrontation ranged across a multitude of domestic and foreign policy issues facing the United States as it battles back from the deepest economic downturn in decades and scrambles to find a way forward in a newly chaotic world — especially the Middle East.

Biden was intent on reviving Democrats who were knocked off balance after Obama’s dismal showing last week in his first debate with Romney. In that regard, the 69-year-old vice president appeared to have succeeded. 

-->

He swarmed over Ryan, a 42-year-old member of the House of Representatives. But many wondered if Biden’s aggressive style had not harmed the Democratic ticket’s standing with key undecided voters.

read more about it at Khaleej Times

Read more »

Romney attacks Obama foreign policy

Mitt Romney and his Republican allies assailed President Barack Obama's foreign policy on Monday, expanding their attacks beyond his economic record in the run-up to the first of three debates.

Romney arrived in the battleground state of Colorado two full days before the high-stakes face-off Wednesday, telling supporters "I look forward" to the presidential debates as a chance to lay out a grand vision for the country.

During a boisterous rally here late Monday Romney largely kept to his standard stump speech laying out how his policies would break the US economy out of its rut and create 12 million jobs.

But earlier in the day Romney had cast beyond US borders, suggesting that after weeks of turmoil sparked by an anti-Islam Internet video foreign affairs might get more attention in the final sprint to the November 6 vote.

-->

He accused Obama of downplaying deadly violence in the Middle East and warned that the president's policies have "heightened the prospect of conflict and instability."

Read more: My Sinchew

Read more »