Who Won the Debates? 49% Say Romney, 41% Obama - Rasmussen Reports™

◼ Most voters consider the three presidential debates at least somewhat important to how they will vote, and a plurality of those that watched thinks Mitt Romney was the overall debate winner. - Rasmussen

Highest Responsibility

Despite what President Obama says, our Navy is smaller now than at any time since 1917. It’s the highest responsibility of the President of the United States to maintain the safety of the American people. Mitt Romney will not make our future less certain by cutting our military.

◼ VIDEO: Romney Ad Highlights Debate - The Other McCain

Apology Tour

Too little too late, Mr President? Romney DOUBLES his lead in new national poll just hours after Obama goes to war in final TV debate

◼ Rasmussen poll puts Romney at 50% with Obama on 46% - Toby Harnden/Daily Mail

Mitt Romney has doubled his lead in a new national poll just hours after the explosive final presidential debate - and with just two weeks to go until election day, it is unclear whether Barack Obama will be able to make up the gap.

The Republican candidate held a four-point lead in the Rasmussen tracking poll released on Tuesday, with 50 per cent of the vote compared to 46 per cent for the President. In Monday's poll he led by two points.

In addition, Romney's lead was five points in swing states and as many as nine points among self-declared independent voters.

Romney Wins CBS Focus Group In Ohio

◼ CBS newscasters look crestfallen when hearing that an Ohio focus group of independents made up their minds last night for Romney. Maybe this is the kind of information that's reaching the ears of the Obama campaign. - J. P. Freire/American Spectator

Fact Check: Obama's Apology Tour

◼ Clips of Obama ‘apology tour’ undercut debate denial [VIDEO] - David Martosko/Daily Caller

During Monday night’s third and final presidential debate, President Barack Obama denied the charge by Republican nominee Mitt Romney that Obama had gone on a global “apology tour” after assuming office.

But a collection of clips of the president, assembled by the nonpartisan conservative group Young America’s Foundation, undercuts Obama’s denial.

In the third debate, Obama had to show in 90 minutes that the first two debates were a fluke, and that Romney was not presidential enough to end his tenure. He did not do that by any means

◼ Romney Should Be Pleased - Victor Davis Hanson/National Review

...for all his pique, interruptions, and attacks, Obama scored few points against the workmanlike Romney who knew that he simply did not have to lose. In any debate, when the two score comparable points, the more aggressive and petulant usually comes off less well, especially given that Romney’s tone and expression were more like the reflective performance of his wildly successful first debate. The take-away quotes and sound bites from the debate will favor Romney.

‘I’M NOT GOING TO TELL PUTIN HE’LL HAVE MORE FLEXIBILITY’

◼ DEM POLL: INDEPENDENTS LIKE ROMNEY AFTER THIRD DEBATE

...55% of independents said Obama won the debate, a full 48% of the independents said they were less likely to vote Obama after the debate. 47% of independents said they were more likely to vote Romney.

There can be only one possible explanation for these numbers. While the public thought Obama won the debate, they didn’t like how he won it. They felt he was arrogant and dismissive. And they felt more comfortable with Mitt Romney as a human being – he looked presidential. That means that the Romney strategy worked...

Presidential

◼ Thoughts on the final presidential debate - Michael Barone/Washington Examiner @michaelbarone

Complete Third Presidential Debate on Foreign Policy 2012: Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney Oct 22

◼ The full transcript of the third presidential debate - Washington Post ◼ Fact Checking Obama: 10 Lies And Counting - RNC ◼ FACT CHECK: Romney RIGHT on all debate disputes - The Right Scoop ◼ Fact Check: Clips of Obama ‘apology tour’ undercut debate denial [VIDEO] - David Martosko/Daily Caller ◼ Fact-check: Text of 2008 Romney op-ed debunks Obama’s auto-bailout attack - Matthew Boyle/Daily Caller ◼ Fact-check: Woodward wrote that Obama administration proposed sequester - Matthew Boyle/Daily Caller ◼ "The biggest gaffe" of the night was Obama's comments on Sequestration - Wall St. Journal Mr. Romney won this economic debate going away because he doesn't have to defend the miserable record of the last four years. He could even invoke Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim that America's soaring debt makes us weak. That's a critique of the Obama years that most Americans would agree with.

Best Tweets of the Final Debate — Romney as The President, Obama as desperate challenger

◼ Best proof Romney won? I’m watching MSNBC for the reaction - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion

Romney is very cleverly turning foreign policy into an appeal to women. #2012
— James Taranto (@jamestaranto) October 23, 2012

Romney: “Attacking me is not an agenda.” Fantastic. Debate over.
— benshapiro (@benshapiro) October 23, 2012

Romney just jabbed Obama about the ‘flexibility after the election’ comment to Medvedev
— Greta Van Susteren (@gretawire) October 23, 2012

◼ Did Romney just move another small step toward the presidency? - Paul Mirengoff/Powerline

Eventually, once he felt he had accomplished his primary mission, Romney did what I have been advocating – tying our current ills to that fact that Obama presented an appearance of weakness early in his administration. He cited Obama’s pre-election promises to negotiate with the world’s leading bad guys, his apology tour, and his stated desire to put daylight between the U.S. and Israel.

When Obama tried to laugh of the notion that he had undertaken an apology tour, Romney quoted the president’s criticism of the U.S. in Cairo and other stops in the Middle East, and added that Obama had declined to make Israel one of his stops. And Romney mixed in the fact that a majority of Democratic Senators had written to Obama complaining about his treatment of Israel. Devastating across the board. Let’s hope that people were still watching.

◼ Wrap up: The third debate; Update: Insta-polls coming in

The nearly universal consensus on Twitter is that Romney won by holding his own, which is all a challenger needs to do in a foreign-policy debate. After watching him talk about international affairs for 90 minutes, does he seem like a guy you’d trust with the button? If yes, then mission accomplished.

◼ ROMNEY WINS, BY A BAYONET - Joel Pollak. Breitbart's BIG Peace
◼ Presidential debate: Sharp reaction to Obama's 'bayonet' - Katie Glueck/Politico

So far, “horses and bayonets” line by O the best of the night at #debates.
— Howard Fineman (@howardfineman)

“horses and bayonets” is the new “binders”
— Matt Mackowiak (@MattMackowiak)

Big Bird, binders and bayonets. #presidentialdebates
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur)

Seeing a lot of outrage from military folks on Obama’s two sequestration jokes, esp. on the bayonets. A lot.
— Ellen Carmichael (@ellencarmichael)

I guess that’s one thing you don’t learn as president. RT @pambestederWow! Just heard on Fox News that Marines STILL use bayonets!
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter)

Does China sell us bayonets? Because we can cancel that order.
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg)

Heh: RT @jpodhoretz Obama just lost the Civil War reenactors with that attack on bayonets.
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin)

Next time you hear the "horses and bayonets" soundbite, remember this is the man who still can't say what went wrong in Benghazi
- Debra Burlingame ‏@DebraBurlingame

◼ Chris Matthews Rants: 'Right Wing' Driven by 'Racial Hatred' to Get Rid of Obama (Video for your entertainment) - Newsbusters

HORRIBLE news for Obama in new PPP poll: Losing 49-47, Romney's favs 50/45 -- O is 45/51. R's favs with women 47/47. All about the MO.
- John Nolte ‏@NolteNC

Final Presidential Debate LIVESTREAM & More

◼ Presidential Debate 2012 Live Stream: Where To Watch, Time, Format And Substance Of The Final Obama-Romney Face-off - IB TIMES



LIVESTREAMS:

◼ YOUTUBE’S POLITICS HUB

YouTube's Politics Hub. YouTube is offering several choices for predebate coverage, with users being able to select from Al-Jazeera, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Univision. All of those outlets start their coverage at 8:30 p.m. EDT. If you want to get an early start on a debate preview, the Politics Hub is featuring such coverage from ABC News at 12 p.m. EDT. ABC is also starting its debate preshow at 8 p.m. EDT via YouTube.

◼ AT CSPAN
◼ AT POLITICO
◼ WAPO
◼ LIVESTREAM.COM

The debate commission is providing voters with live stream through ◼ AOL, ◼ YouTube and ◼ Yahoo.

Microsoft, boasting interactive features, is streaming the debate for Xbox 360 owners. Those with an Xbox 360 console can watch the debate on their gaming system and take part in an interactive poll. ◼ Check out this link to get ready for tonight’s debate.

Television networks are also providing live stream coverage. CBS has debate coverage online ◼ here, C-SPAN’s can be found ◼ here (coverage starts at 7 p.m. EDT,) Fox News’ live stream is ◼ here and Univision’s live stream is ◼ here.

ON TWITTER: ◼ #BobSchieffer ◼ #debate ◼ #debates
◼ FOLLOW THE ROMNEY-RYAN RESPONSE TEAM ◼ #LynnDebate

Tom Del Beccaro will live ◼ TWEET and ◼ FACEBOOK tonight during the debate - afterward, please join him live on KNX radio as he debates former Governor Gray Davis about the debate!

LIVEBLOGGING & CHAT: (will update as links become available)
◼ Wake Up America
◼ neoneocon
◼ Ace
◼ Althouse
◼ Michelle Malkin
◼ Legal Insurrection

_______________
Leading up:
◼ So….debates don’t matter? - Chris Cillizza/Washington Post
◼ Political Wisdom: Who Will Win the Last Debate? - Jude Marfil/Wall St. Journal
◼ The bias of Bob Schieffer: Top 7 moments - Michelle Malkin
◼ POLL: AMERICANS DISLIKE OBAMA DOCTRINE ON ARAB SPRING, IRAN, CHINA - Ben Shapiro/Breitbart
◼ Mitt Romney’s toughest debate - Politico
◼ The Stakes in Tonight’s Foreign Policy Debate - Bruce Thornton/Front Page Magazine
◼ Mitt refuses to lose - Michael Goodwin/New York Post

3rd and Final Presidential Debate

◼ link - 2012 ELECTION CENTRAL

Topic: Foreign policy
Air Time: 9:00-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Location: Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida
Sponsor: Commission on Presidential Debates
Participants: President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney
Moderator: Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS)
The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate and will focus on foreign policy.

◼ Live Blog of the Third Presidential Debate - CATO Institute

Join us Monday, October 22nd at 8:45 PM ET for live commentary during the third and final presidential debate between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama. The debate this time will focus on foreign policy, covering these topics:

America’s role in the world
Our longest war – Afghanistan and Pakistan
Red Lines – Israel and Iran
The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism – I
The Changing Middle East and the New Face of Terrorism – II
The Rise of China and Tomorrow’s World

Follow the live blog directly on Twitter ◼ here. You can also join the conversation with the hashtag ◼ #Debate (or Debates) and by following ◼ @CatoInstitute and ◼ @CatoFP.