10:16 AM - 20 Oct 12 · Details
Mitt Romney, Barack Obama focus on foreign policy for final debate
Originally published: October 20, 2012 7:18 AM
Updated: October 20, 2012 9:08 AM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated: October 20, 2012 9:08 AM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Photo credit: Newsday/John Paraskevas | Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, left, smiles as he listens to a question at the 2012 presidential debate against President Barack Obama, right, at Hofstra University in Hempstead. (Oct. 16, 2012)
Pols react to Hofstra presidential debate
2012 presidential debate at Hofstra
Where Obama and Romney stand on issues
Obama, Romney debate
WASHINGTON - With one debate left, President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney are retreating from the campaign trail to bone up on foreign policy, leaving the work of courting voters to their running mates.
Monday's debate in Boca Raton, Fla., with its focus on international affairs, is the third and final between the two rivals and comes just 15 days before the election.
Obama left Friday for Camp David, the presidential hideaway inMaryland's Catoctin Mountains. He was to remain there with advisers until Monday morning. Romney was to spend the weekend in Florida with aides preparing the debate.
Romney running mate Paul Ryan planned a campaign stop inPennsylvania on Saturday. Vice President Joe Biden was headed for St. Augustine, Fla.
Monday's 90-minute debate will be moderated by Bob Schieffer ofCBS News. It will be similar to the first debate, with both men standing at lecterns on a stage. Schieffer has listed five subject areas, with more time devoted to the Middle East and terrorism than any other topic.
While the economy has been the dominant theme of the election, foreign policy has attracted renewed media attention in the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Obama had ranked well with the public on his handling of international issues and in fighting terrorism, especially following the death of Osama bin Laden. But the administration's response to theLibya attack and questions over levels of security at the consulate have given Romney and his Republican allies an issue with which to raise doubts about Obama's foreign policy leadership.
