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The White House has denied a report in the New York Times saying that Iran had agreed to one-on-one negotiations over its nuclear programme with the US.
The report, quoting unnamed officials, said Iran had agreed to the talks for the first time but would not hold them until after US elections on 6 November.
The White House said it was prepared to meet Iran bilaterally, but that there was no plan to do so.
Western states think Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, something it denies.
Iran has been a key foreign policy topic in the US election campaign.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will hold their third and final campaign debate on Monday, on the subject of foreign policy.
The New York Times report said the US and Iran had agreed to one-on-one negotiations “in principle”.
But US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement that it was untrue the US and Iran had “agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections”.
“We continue to work… on a diplomatic solution and have said from the outset that we would be prepared to meet bilaterally,” he added.
Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 negotiation group – which includes the UK, US, France, China, Russia and Germany – have stalled.
Western nations have used increasingly harsh sanctions in an effort to pressure Iran over its nuclear programme.
Mitt Romney has accused Barack Obama of being too soft on Iran.
Barack Obama opposes a near-term military strike by the US or Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities, but says he is determined to stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
“The president has made clear that he will prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and we will do what we must to achieve that,” Tommy Vietor said.
“The onus is on the Iranians to do so, otherwise they will continue to face crippling sanctions and increased pressure.”
Mitt Romney has derided President Barack Obama, saying his rival has “no agenda” worthy of a second term in office.
At a campaign rally in Florida, Mitt Romney said the Obama campaign had been “reduced to petty attacks and silly word games”.
Hours earlier, Barack Obama decried Mitt Romney for shifting his positions as election day draws nearer, saying the Republican suffers from “Romnesia”.
The two meet for their final debate, on foreign policy, in Florida on Monday.
Mitt Romney and the Republicans are continuing to focus on the Obama administration’s handling of a deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans including the US ambassador were killed.
The incident provoked a flashpoint during Tuesday’s second debate, and is likely to be hotly debated again in Boca Raton.
Friday’s campaigning saw both candidates make one major stop each: Barack Obama in the Washington DC suburb of Fairfax, Virginia, and Mitt Romney in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Barack Obama told supporters that Mitt Romney was now only becoming more moderate as the election got closer.
“He is forgetting what his own positions are and he is betting that you are too,” Barack Obama said, giving his rival’s “condition” a crowd-pleasing name: “Romnesia”.
The president renewed his pitch to women voters, arguing that “you don’t want someone who needs to ask for binders full of women,” a reference to Mitt Romney’s description of how he recruited women for cabinet positions as governor of Massachusetts.
“You want a president who’s already appointed two unbelievable women to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Former President Bill Clinton also campaigned for Barack Obama on Friday in Wisconsin.
Mitt Romney, appearing later on stage with running mate Paul Ryan, described the Obama campaign as “the incredible shrinking campaign”.
“Have you been watching the Obama campaign lately?” Mitt Romney told supporters at the Dayton Beach bandshell.
“They have no agenda for the future, no agenda for America, no agenda for a second term. It’s a good thing they won’t have a second term.”
Mitt Romney said the Obama campaign had been “reduced to petty attacks and silly word games”.
Recent polls show an ever-tightening race, including in key election states.
A CNN poll on Friday suggested Mitt Romney has a slender 1% lead in Florida, within the poll’s margin of error. A separate poll gave a similar edge to Mitt Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Both candidates are also trying to gain as many votes as possible through early voting, already under way in many states across the US. Election day itself is Tuesday 6 November.
With the election now less than three weeks away, newspapers are beginning to hand out their endorsements. On Friday, Barack Obama won the endorsement of the Salt Lake Tribune – despite the city being home to Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith.
Elsewhere, The Tennessean, which often endorses Democratic candidates for president, chose Mitt Romney.
It was also reported on Friday that seven of the key “swing states” in the US election had seen their unemployment figures fall over the past 12 months.
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US President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have made a series of lighthearted jabs at themselves and each other at the annual Al Smith charity dinner.
At the event organized by the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, Barack Obama said his first debate performance – which he was judged to have lost – had been a “long nap” to prepare for the second.
Mitt Romney mocked his own wealth.
Referring to his Mormon faith. Mitt Romney said he had prepared for the debates by “not drinking alcohol for 65 years”.
Earlier, Barack Obama made an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
He said the US would “fix” security overseas after a deadly Libya attack.
Jon Stewart asked Barack Obama about the administration’s “confused” response to the attack on a US consulate in Benghazi, Libya on 11 September.
The US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans died in the attack, which remains at the centre of the campaign debate ahead of a foreign policy debate in Florida on Monday.
Barack Obama told Jon Stewart his administration was still piecing together the evidence.
“The government is a big operation. At any given time, something screws up and you make sure you find out what’s broken and you fix it,” he said.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have made a series of lighthearted jabs at themselves and each other at the annual Al Smith charity dinner
Barack Obama also repeated his wish to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, a first term promise he has been criticized for not yet carrying out.
The Alfred F. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner – a traditional fixture on the presidential campaign calendar – was Mitt Romney’s only public event on Thursday after several campaign stops in Virginia the day before.
Resplendent in formal white tie on stage, Mitt Romney – known for his business fortune – said that after a long campaign it was “nice finally to relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house”.
He also reminded the audience of the vice-president’s mirth-filled approach to his debate with Paul Ryan a week ago: “I was hoping the president would bring Joe Biden along because he’ll laugh at anything.”
Referring to the first presidential debate, Barack Obama said: “I had more energy in second debate. I was well-rested after the nice long nap I had in first debate.”
Barack Obama also noted he had been criticized for being too popular abroad at the beginning of his term. “I’m impressed with how well Governor Romney has avoided that problem,” he said, in a nod to a summer overseas trip that drew criticism.
The dinner was overseen by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has clashed with the administration over contraception provisions in Barack Obama’s health care law.
Cardinal Dolan has said he received “stacks of mail” protesting against Barack Obama’s invitation to the dinner, but he sought to avoid playing political favorites. The cardinal delivered benedictions at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions in 2012.
Ahead of his reunion with Barack Obama, a daily Gallup tracking poll of likely voters suggested Mitt Romney had increased his lead nationally. However, a series of other polls show a much tighter race.
Mitt Romney announced on Thursday that his campaign was leaving North Carolina, believing his victory was assured there. He is currently polling an average of six points ahead of Barack Obama in the state.
Barack Obama also benefited from new polling on Thursday, with a Pew Hispanic Center poll suggesting three-quarters of Catholic Latinos back the president.
The president picked up the backing of rock star Bruce Springsteen, as he did in 2008. Bruce Springsteen campaigned for Barack Obama on Thursday in Ohio with former President Bill Clinton.
“For 30 years I’ve been writing about the distance between the American dream and American reality,” Bruce Springsteen said, reading from a statement.
“Our vote is the one principal way we get to determine that distance.”
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The second presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley was heavily criticized this morning after appearing to side with Barack Obama during last night’s debate.
CNN’s chief political correspondent Candy Crowley told Mitt Romney that he was wrong about remarks Barack Obama had made last month in the aftermath of the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
During a question about security at the Benghazi consulate, where four American officials were killed, including the ambassador Chris Stevens, on September 11, Barack Obama said he was ultimately responsible as commander-in-chief.
Mitt Romney then questioned whether Barack Obama had called the consulate attack an “act of terror” in his Rose Garden address the following day.
While Barack Obama cut across Mitt Romney – saying “look at the transcript” – Candy Crowley then seemed to back up the President, telling the Republican governor that Obama did “call it an act of terror”.
Her interjection angered political commentators, who said she had stepped in on behalf of the President.
Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro called the moderator’s reactions a “disgrace” while his colleague John Nolte said Candy Crowley “lied to save Obama”.
Candy Crowley often struggled to control the candidates as they spoke over each other amid angry exchanges.
During the debate, Barack Obama said: “The day after the attack, Governor, I stood in the Rose Garden, and I told the American people and the world that we are going to find out exactly what happened, that this was an act of terror.”
Mitt Romney then questioned the veracity of Barack Obama’s remarks. He said: “I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror.”
While Mitt Romney then continued to question Barack Obama’s claims, Candy Crowley interjected: “He [Obama] did in fact, sir.”
Barack Obama then said: “Can you say that a little louder, Candy?” to laughter and applause from the audience.
Candy Crowley told Mitt Romney that he was wrong about remarks Barack Obama had made last month in the aftermath of the attacks on the US consulate in Libya
Then rather belatedly, Candy Crowley told Romney: “He did call it an act of terror. It did as well take – it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out. You are correct about that.”
During his Rose Garden address on September 12, the day following the attack in Benghazi, Barack Obama said: “No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for.”
Many commentators have said that while he did use the phrase he did not explicitly say the killings were the result of terrorist action.
The attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was a talking point again during Vice President Joe Biden’s debate last week.
Joe Biden claimed in the debate with Republican VP nominee Paul Ryan that “we weren’t told” about requests for extra security at the consulate.
On Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was forced to come to his defense.
Pushing back against Republican criticism of the Obama administration for its handling of the situation, Hillary Clinton said that security at all of America’s diplomatic missions abroad is her job, not that of the White House.
Hillary Clinton said: “I take responsibility…. The president and the vice president wouldn’t be knowledgeable about specific decisions that are made by security professionals.”
The Libya question was one moment when Candy Crowley struggled to rein in the debate on Tuesday night.
Candy Crowley failed to shut down both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney when they ran over allocated times and attacked each other in angry exchanges.
In her opening statement at the town hall debate in New York, Candy Crowley said: “Because I am the optimistic sort, I’m sure the candidates will oblige by keeping their answers concise and on point.”
It was revealed from CNN timekeeping on the debate, that Barack Obama had spoke for three extra minutes
The President got 44:04 minutes of speaking time, while Romney got 40:50.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney had both revealed their concern over Candy Crowley ahead of tonight’s second presidential debate because she was robust in saying beforehand that she would not shirk from guiding the debate.
Lawyers for both Democratic and Republican campaigns complained about comments the CNN journalist made ahead of the town hall-style debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York tonight.
Her job was to referee the two presidential candidates as they answered questions from online viewers and members of the audience.
But in an interview, she indicated that she planned to take a more aggressive stance than the last moderator Jim Lehrer who was roundly criticized for a listless performance and letting Barack Obama and Mitt Romney walk all over him.
Where PBS veteran Jim Lehrer said his job was to stay out of the way, Candy Crowley’s planning a different set of tactics.
The political correspondent said: “Once the table is kind of set by the town hall questioner, there is then time for me to say, <<Hey, wait a second, what about x, y, z?>>”
Both candidates appeared less than pleased with her remarks – and they weren’t the only ones.
The Commission on Presidential Debates has also complained, saying Candy Crowley’s remarks are vastly different from the memo that was signed by lawyers for both campaigns.
“In managing the two-minute comment periods, the moderator will not rephrase the question or open a new topic,” the legal document obtained by Time says.
The political heat already facing Candy Crowley shows just how much rests on the second televised debate for both candidates.
Candy Crowley is the first CNN anchor to moderate a general election presidential debate since the 1988 face-off between George HW Bush and Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.
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President Barack Obama came out swinging in the second debate with Mitt Romney, according to the latest polls, although who actually won was open to interpretation.
According to a national survey, 46% of those watching the town hall on Tuesday night believed that Barack Obama had won – while 39% sided with Mitt Romney.
In the second of their three debates, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney attacked each other viciously at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
The figures gathered by CNN/ORC showed that the majority believed Barack Obama’s performance was superior (73%) compared to 37% who held the opinion about Mitt Romney.
The poll is a dramatic turn of events for the candidates face-off on October 3 in Denver when 67% of registered voters said the debate was won by Mitt Romney and only 25% opting for Barack Obama.
Barack Obama came out swinging in the second debate with Mitt Romney, according to the latest polls
When it came to the most likeable, Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney 47-41%.
However, on big issues such as the economy, Mitt Romney soared ahead with an 18-point lead on the President.
Almost half of viewers (49%) believed that Barack Obama was more on the offensive than his opponent (35%). However, Mitt Romney had the edge on who was the stronger leader at 49-46%.
Some 457 registered voters were interviewed by CNN on Tuesday night after the end of the 90-minute showdown. Of those interview, 33% were Republicans and the same percentage Democrats.
In another poll by CBS, 37% of those surveyed said Barack Obama won with Mitt Romney trailing at 30%. A third (33%) said the debate was a tie.
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First Lady Michelle Obama and Ann Romney both appeared to be going after the women’s vote at the second presidential debate with an obvious fashion choice.
Michelle Obama wore a coat-style, hot pink dress while Ann Romney wore a shift with capped sleeves in exactly the same shade.
The wives of the presidential candidates took their seats as their husbands appeared on stage at Hofstra University in New York on Tuesday.
Twitter users suggested that both wives had chosen the color to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
While Ann Romney wore a necklace made of several strands of glass beads, the First Lady favored a single row of pearls.
Michelle Obama and Ann Romney wear identical hot pink outfits at presidential debate
Barack Obama’s biggest task last night in the second presidential debate was to woo back “waitress moms” so crucial to his re-election, after a poll showed Mitt Romney has stole their votes in the first showdown and they are now neck and neck among women voters.
According to a Gallup/USA Today poll of 12 swing states, Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama by 12 points among men.
Barack Obama has hit out at Republican Mitt Romney during a feisty 90-minute encounter in the second of three presidential debates.
Barack Obama – widely perceived to have lost their first encounter – came out swinging in New York on the economy, tax and foreign policy.
But the former Massachusetts governor accused Barack Obama of broken promises and a record of failure.
They will meet for a final pre-election debate in Florida on 22 October.
As he battles for a second term, the Democratic president has been trying to hold on to dwindling leads in the nine key swing states that are expected to decide the election on 6 November.
In the town hall-style forum at Hofstra University on Long Island, both men freely roamed the stage, circling, interrupting and at times heckling one another as they took questions from an audience of 80 undecided voters.
The moderator, CNN’s Candy Crowley, often had to intervene to keep order between the rivals as each fought to make his point.
Barack Obama set the tone from his first answer, when he contrasted his own bailout of the US car industry with Mitt Romney’s position that auto-makers should have been allowed to go bankrupt.
The president forcefully accused Mitt Romney of inconsistent positions, while claiming that his challenger could only offer a “one-point plan… to make sure the folks at the top play by a different set of rules”.
Mitt Romney meanwhile hammered away at the president’s record on the economy, blaming him for unemployment of 20 million Americans and bloated federal deficits, insisting the country could not afford another four years with Barack Obama at the helm.
In one of the most scathing exchanges, they bickered over last month’s attack on the US Libya consulate that left four Americans dead.
Mitt Romney suggested the Obama administration may have attempted to mislead Americans over whether it was a terrorist attack.
But the president said it was “offensive” to suggest that he had played politics on such a grave issue.
He countered that it was the Republican who had tried to turn a national tragedy to his advantage by releasing a partisan press release about the deadly assault.
As the debate progressed, both candidates made repeated and impassioned pitches to America’s middle class.
Barack Obama said he had cut taxes for middle class families and small businesses over the last four years.
But he said that if America was serious about reducing the deficit, the wealthy would have to pay a little bit more.
“Governor Romney and his allies in Congress have held the 98% hostage because they want tax breaks for the 2%,” said Barack Obama.
In his final answer he responded to an assertion by Mitt Romney that the Republican would represent “100% of Americans” by bringing up Romney’s secretly recorded remarks at a fundraiser in May.
In those remarks the challenger dismissed 47% of Americans as government-dependent tax avoiders who take no responsibility for their lives.
“When he said behind closed doors that 47% of the country considers themselves victims who refuse personal responsibility – think about who he was talking about,” the president said.
Barack Obama said voters had heard no specifics on Mitt Romney’s “sketchy” tax plan apart from eliminating Sesame Street’s Big Bird and cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, a family planning organization Republicans say promotes abortion.
“Of course it adds up,” Mitt Romney said of his tax plan. He cited his experience balancing budgets in business, while running the 2002 Olympics and as governor of Massachusetts.
Barack Obama ticked off a list of achievements over the last four years: tax cuts for the middle class; ending the war in Iraq, killing Osama Bin Laden; helping the auto industry, as well as healthcare reform.
But Mitt Romney said the last four years had not been as rosy as the president would like to portray, saying the president had made pledges to deliver unemployment of 5.4%, an immigration plan, and to cut in half the deficit, but had met none of them.
“The president’s tried, but his policies haven’t worked,” said Mitt Romney.
One of the sharpest exchanges of the debate came when the pair clashed over former private equity chief Mitt Romney’s wealth.
Mitt Romney was defending his investments in China through a blind trust when he asked Barack Obama if he had looked at his own pension. He said Barack Obama would find investments in China in his retirement plan, too.
Barack Obama countered that he did not check his pension that often, adding: “Because it’s not as big as yours.”
Another fragment of the debate prompted a flurry of social media comment.
Arguing that he supports equal opportunities for women, Mitt Romney said he once had “binders full of women” candidates for cabinet jobs when he was Massachusetts governor.
The third and final presidential debate is scheduled for 22 October in Boca Raton, Florida.
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President Barack Obama’s team says he will make a “strong” comeback in Tuesday’s debate rematch with his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Top aide Robert Gibbs says he expects Barack Obama to be “energetic” after his passive showing in the first debate.
The rivals will take questions on domestic and foreign policy from an audience of 80 undecided voters at a town hall-style forum in New York.
With 21 days to go until the election, the race is essentially deadlocked.
As he battles for a second term, the Democratic president is trying to hang on to narrow leads in many of the nine key swing states that are expected to decide who will win the White House.
The 90-minute debate at Hofstra University on Long Island starts at 21:00 EDT on Tuesday. It will be moderated by CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley.
The president’s campaign dropped the usual pre-debate tactic of lowering expectations, to adopt a more bullish, upbeat tone.
Barack Obama’s team says he will make a strong comeback in Tuesday’s debate rematch with Mitt Romney
Robert Gibbs, a senior Obama aide, told MSNBC on Tuesday: “I think you will see somebody who will be strong, who will be passionate, who will be energetic.”
Mitt Romney – who has risen in the opinion polls since his first encounter this month with Barack Obama in Denver, Colorado – will aim to pull off another assured performance.
Barack Obama has been preparing for the debate since Saturday at a golf resort in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Mitt Romney’s advisers are putting him through his paces in his home state of Massachusetts.
“President Obama is going to have a better night than he had at the first debate,” Mitt Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said.
He added that the Republican expects his rival to “come out swinging with dishonest and negative attacks”.
After the last debate, Democrats questioned why Barack Obama did not challenge Mitt Romney over his policies on tax, healthcare and jobs.
They also complained that Barack Obama had allowed the Republican to soften some of his most conservative stances.
Barack Obama campaign aides say the president will not make the same mistake this time.
But the rivals must also strike a balance between attacking each other without coming across as too negative in front of the audience and the tens of millions of Americans watching on television.
On the eve of the debate, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took responsibility for last month’s sacking of the US consulate in Libya, which the Romney campaign has used to attack the White House.
Hillary Clinton said that she – and not the president or vice-president – was to blame for any security lapses before the 11 September assault on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi, which left the US ambassador and three other Americans dead.
The Romney campaign has claimed the Libyan raid shows that the president’s foreign policy is “unravelling”, and the issue could well come up again in Tuesday’s clash.
The third and final presidential debate is scheduled for 22 October in Boca Raton, Florida.
Honey Boo Boo proved her personality is far from pint sized on last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel.
Seven-year-old Alana Thompson was unable to contain her excitement and boredom during the nine minute segment, which she appeared on with her mother, June Shannon.
While uncontrollably wriggling, Honey Boo Boo endorses Barack Obama, admits she once had a stutter and discusses her allowance; while mother June Shannon reveals how all the money made from the show is split equally between the children in a trust fund.
Meanwhile, they youngster decides to have a quick nap, resting her head in her arms, but not before shoving her hand in Jimmy Kimmel’s glass of water and then flicking it at the audience.
Turning to June Shannon, otherwise known as Mama, Jimmy Kimmel asks: “The Kardashians are making millions of dollars, and their show is about as popular as yours. Are you making millions of dollars?”
Earnestly, Mama replied: “No, we just started out, you don’t make millions when you first start out.
“I am the manager, the agent in all of this. I know what’s best for my kids… that’s why I chose to put money in the trust fund.
“This journey may last six months or it may last a year but I don’t want ten years down the road Alana or any of the kids to be thinking, <<oh my god, I have nothing to show for it>>. So I wanted to put it in a trust fund, split equally for all the kids.
“So most of the money is there, and the other money goes to our community outreach programmes like the UR brand that we raise for anti-bullying.”
Honey Boo Boo proved her personality is far from pint sized on last night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel
Honey Boo Boo says she doesn’t get her own allowance just yet, but that Mama gives her money to go to the store.
“Like if I wanna go to the store, she gives me my own money. I buy some candy or somethin’, or somethin’ to eat,” she said.
On her nickname as “coupon queen”, June Shannon admitted: “Unfortunately because we’ve had a busy schedule I don’t get to coupon as much as I used to, but when I do get to coupon… oh boy.
“It’s kind of like an addictive drug for me, you save money for your family, but I could be a multimillionaire and I’d still save family for my family.”
Jimmy Kimmel pointed out the family’s other nickmanes, like Chubs, Sugar Bear and Pumpkin.
Honey Boo Boo offered: “I have other nicknames, one’s Smoochi and one’s T.T.
“It’s because when I was little I used to stutter. I used to say a <<lotta T, T, T>>”
Jimmy Kimmel turned the focus to politics, telling the mother-daughter duo that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney recently said he prefers Snooki to the TLC stars.
“Do you know who Mitt Romney is?” asked Jimmy Kimmel.
“No,” replied Honey Boo Boo.
He tried again: “Barack Obama?”
Answering with uncertainty, she said: “The President?”
Jimmy Kimmel thne asked who she would be supporting this year.
“Marack Obama,” she replied, as Mama adjusted her daughter’s legs into a more ladylike position, an ongoing struggle between the pair during the segment.
Nine minutes later and the youngster jumped for joy when she realized it was over.
“You better Redneckognize!” she yelled.
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According to a Gallup/USA Today poll of 12 swing states, Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama by 12 points among men, ahead of tonight’s second presidential debate.
But it is his surge among women voters to within one point of Barack Obama that has given him a four-point overall lead that sets him on course to win the White House on November 6th.
The poll, released on the eve of the second presidential debate in Hampstead, New York, marks an apparent end to months of double-digit Barack Obama leads over Mitt Romney among women and has plunged Democrats into panic mode.
Unlike the first debate, the second meeting will be in a “town hall” format in which undecided ordinary voters – probably about a dozen – will pose questions. At least half of them are likely to be women. In addition, the debate will be moderated by a woman – CNN’s Candy Crowley.
Democrats traditionally enjoy a marked advantage among women. Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election was said to have been based on winning over middle class, aspirational so-called “soccer moms”. But Barack Obama’s popularity among females has plummeted after Mitt Romney’s commanding debate performance in Denver nearly two weeks ago.
Vice-President Joe Biden’s bullying display over Mitt Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan also left many women voters feeling alienated.
Within an hour of the Gallup survey being released, the Obama campaign – which recently mocked Republicans for questioning poll methodology, went on the offensive against the 75-year-old polling firm. Reporters were sent a memo from Barack Obama pollster Joel Benenson.
In it, Joel Benenson said: “The latest Gallup/USA Today Battleground survey showing President Obama and Governor Romney tied with women in battleground states (48-48) is an extreme outlier, defying the trends seen in every other battleground and national poll.”
Overall, Mitt Romney has 50% of support among likely voters in the 12 battleground states, while Barack Obama is trailing with 46% support, according to the survey.
Without winning women, Barack Obama’s path to victory in November is complicated, if not impossible.
The memo includes a chart of selected surveys from a handful of battleground states that give Barack Obama a 10-point lead over Mitt Romney among women nationally.
“This implausible result among women appears to not even provide an accurate reflection on the electorate today, making its value questionable,” Joel Benenson insisted.
Mitt Romney is now neck and neck with Barack Obama among women voters, according to a new Gallup survey
Women tend to start paying close attention to election campaigns later and are more open to persuasion than men. This makes female voters, particularly the blue-collar “waitress moms” whose families have been hard-hit by the recession and unemployment, the most-prized group of swing voters in 2012.
Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster, told USA Today: “In every poll, we’ve seen a major surge among women in favorability for Romney” since the Denver debate.
“Women went into the debate actively disliking Romney, and they came out thinking he might understand their lives and might be able to get something done for them.”
She added that while Barack Obama currently maintains an edge among women voters, the changed views of Mitt Romney could be “a precursor to movement” in greater numbers towards the Republican nominee.
“It opens them up to take a second look, and that’s the danger for Obama.”
Democrats were scrambling Monday to maintain their historical edge among female voters. Party officials held a conference call in an effort to raise alarm over how a Republican administration would impact women’s lives negatively and the progressive group MoveOn.org released an ad starring three Hollywood actresses who claimed Republicans would try to end abortion rights for women.
The Romney campaign, on the other hand, touted the survey’s findings as proof that women are increasingly concerned about the economy instead of issues like birth control. Republicans said the survey shows women feel Mitt Romney is better equipped than Barack Obama to spur economic growth.
Mitt Romney’s path to winning a greater share of the female voting bloc has been long and arduous.
He trailed the president by 18 percentage points among female voters in a Gallup survey from April, around the time that Democrats were attacking Republicans for “waging a war on women” by supporting legislation that would limit insurance coverage for contraceptives.
That’s when Mitt Romney’s advisers decided to step up the visibility of his wife, Ann, on the campaign trail to try and make Romney more relatable as a husband and a father.
The campaign also organized “Women for Romney” grassroots groups in battleground states across the country and began cutting dozens of television ads that featured clips of Ann talking about Mitt Romney’s “softer” side.
The strategy has helped Mitt Romney slowly chip away at Barack Obama’s lead among female voters and after the president’s decidedly lackluster debate performance earlier this month, Romney appears to be finally closing the gender gap.
As Mitt Romney looks to maintain the progress he’s made among female voters, he’s likely to tread lightly on topics such as abortion and birth control during tonight’s debate – and to pivot back to the economy whenever possible.
President Barack Obama, on the other hand, will be looking for every opportunity to remind female voters of the measures he has enacted while in office that target women, such as the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Barack Obama will also be looking for every chance to remind women that that he was raised by a single mom and that he is the father of two daughters.
NEW DEBATE FORMAT
Unlike the first presidential debate, tonight’s debate will be in a “town hall” format, meaning candidates will answer questions from members of an audience, rather than a moderator.
There are 80 audience members total, which were selected by Gallup from a sample of undecided voters who live near the debate’s location in Hempstead on Long Island.
The participants had to submit their questions ahead of time. The debate moderator, CNN’s Candy Crowley, will decide who to call on during the debate based on her reviews of their submitted questions.
The candidates will have two minutes to respond to each question, after which the moderator can ask a follow-up question of her choosing.
The candidates will have one minute to respond to the moderator’s question.
The “town hall” format is designed to be more relaxed and conversational, with the candidates free to walk around the forum instead of remaining confined behind a podium or a desk.
But the format also lends itself to more opportunities for unplanned or candid events, such as the 1992 debate where President George Bush was caught on camera checking his watch.
According to a Gallup/USA Today poll of 12 swing states, Mitt Romney leads Barack Obama by 12 points among men, ahead of tonight’s second presidential debate.
But it is his surge among women voters to within one point of Barack Obama that has given him a four-point overall lead that sets him on course to win the White House on November 6th.
The poll, released on the eve of the second presidential debate in Hampstead, New York, marks an apparent end to months of double-digit Barack Obama leads over Mitt Romney among women and has plunged Democrats into panic mode.
Unlike the first debate, the second meeting will be in a “town hall” format in which undecided ordinary voters – probably about a dozen – will pose questions. At least half of them are likely to be women. In addition, the debate will be moderated by a woman – CNN’s Candy Crowley.
Democrats traditionally enjoy a marked advantage among women. Bill Clinton’s 1996 re-election was said to have been based on winning over middle class, aspirational so-called “soccer moms”. But Barack Obama’s popularity among females has plummeted after Mitt Romney’s commanding debate performance in Denver nearly two weeks ago.
Vice-President Joe Biden’s bullying display over Mitt Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan also left many women voters feeling alienated.
Within an hour of the Gallup survey being released, the Obama campaign – which recently mocked Republicans for questioning poll methodology, went on the offensive against the 75-year-old polling firm. Reporters were sent a memo from Barack Obama pollster Joel Benenson.
In it, Joel Benenson said: “The latest Gallup/USA Today Battleground survey showing President Obama and Governor Romney tied with women in battleground states (48-48) is an extreme outlier, defying the trends seen in every other battleground and national poll.”
Overall, Mitt Romney has 50% of support among likely voters in the 12 battleground states, while Barack Obama is trailing with 46% support, according to the survey.
Without winning women, Barack Obama’s path to victory in November is complicated, if not impossible.
The memo includes a chart of selected surveys from a handful of battleground states that give Barack Obama a 10-point lead over Mitt Romney among women nationally.
“This implausible result among women appears to not even provide an accurate reflection on the electorate today, making its value questionable,” Joel Benenson insisted.
Women tend to start paying close attention to election campaigns later and are more open to persuasion than men. This makes female voters, particularly the blue-collar “waitress moms” whose families have been hard-hit by the recession and unemployment, the most-prized group of swing voters in 2012.
Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster, told USA Today: “In every poll, we’ve seen a major surge among women in favorability for Romney” since the Denver debate.
“Women went into the debate actively disliking Romney, and they came out thinking he might understand their lives and might be able to get something done for them.”
She added that while Barack Obama currently maintains an edge among women voters, the changed views of Mitt Romney could be “a precursor to movement” in greater numbers towards the Republican nominee.
“It opens them up to take a second look, and that’s the danger for Obama.”
Democrats were scrambling Monday to maintain their historical edge among female voters. Party officials held a conference call in an effort to raise alarm over how a Republican administration would impact women’s lives negatively and the progressive group MoveOn.org released an ad starring three Hollywood actresses who claimed Republicans would try to end abortion rights for women.
The Romney campaign, on the other hand, touted the survey’s findings as proof that women are increasingly concerned about the economy instead of issues like birth control. Republicans said the survey shows women feel Mitt Romney is better equipped than Barack Obama to spur economic growth.
Mitt Romney’s path to winning a greater share of the female voting bloc has been long and arduous.
He trailed the president by 18 percentage points among female voters in a Gallup survey from April, around the time that Democrats were attacking Republicans for “waging a war on women” by supporting legislation that would limit insurance coverage for contraceptives.
That’s when Mitt Romney’s advisers decided to step up the visibility of his wife, Ann, on the campaign trail to try and make Romney more relatable as a husband and a father.
The campaign also organized “Women for Romney” grassroots groups in battleground states across the country and began cutting dozens of television ads that featured clips of Ann talking about Mitt Romney’s “softer” side.
The strategy has helped Mitt Romney slowly chip away at Barack Obama’s lead among female voters and after the president’s decidedly lackluster debate performance earlier this month, Romney appears to be finally closing the gender gap.
As Mitt Romney looks to maintain the progress he’s made among female voters, he’s likely to tread lightly on topics such as abortion and birth control during tonight’s debate – and to pivot back to the economy whenever possible.
President Barack Obama, on the other hand, will be looking for every opportunity to remind female voters of the measures he has enacted while in office that target women, such as the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Barack Obama will also be looking for every chance to remind women that that he was raised by a single mom and that he is the father of two daughters.
NEW DEBATE FORMAT
Unlike the first presidential debate, tonight’s debate will be in a “town hall” format, meaning candidates will answer questions from members of an audience, rather than a moderator.
There are 80 audience members total, which were selected by Gallup from a sample of undecided voters who live near the debate’s location in Hempstead on Long Island.
The participants had to submit their questions ahead of time. The debate moderator, CNN’s Candy Crowley, will decide who to call on during the debate based on her reviews of their submitted questions.
The candidates will have two minutes to respond to each question, after which the moderator can ask a follow-up question of her choosing.
The candidates will have one minute to respond to the moderator’s question.
The “town hall” format is designed to be more relaxed and conversational, with the candidates free to walk around the forum instead of remaining confined behind a podium or a desk.
But the format also lends itself to more opportunities for unplanned or candid events, such as the 1992 debate where President George Bush was caught on camera checking his watch.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she takes responsibility for the security failure at the Benghazi consulate that led to the killing of four Americans in Libya last month.
Hillary Clinton said ensuring the safety of US diplomatic staff overseas was her job, not that of the White House.
Republicans have strongly criticized President Barack Obama over the attack.
And Republican challenger Mitt Romney is likely to raise it again in the second campaign debate with Barack Obama.
It seems Hillary Clinton is trying to draw criticism away from Barack Obama, who needs a strong debate performance if he is to recover his lead in the polls.
In her interviews, Hillary Clinton appeared to acknowledge that she was trying to shield the president.
“What we had to do in the state department was keep focused not on why something happened – that was for the intelligence community to determine – but what was happening and what could happen,” Hillary Clinton said.
“And that’s what I was very much working on, day and night, to try to make sure that we intervened with governments. We did everything we could to keep our people safe, which is my primary responsibility.”
Hillary Clinton said she was focused on tracking down the killers of the US ambassador to Libya and bringing them to justice.
“I don’t think we want to get into any blame game. I think what we want to do is get to the bottom of what happened, figure out what we’re going to do to protect people and prevent it from happening again and then track down whoever did and bring them to justice.”
Last week, a US congressional committee heard US security in Libya was reduced before the attack on the US consulate, even as violence worsened.
Mitt Romney has been making the Benghazi attack the centrepiece of his case against President Obama’s foreign policy, and has accused Vice-President Joe Biden of making misleading statements about the attack.
Mitt Romney said Joe Biden’s statement in the recent vice-presidential debate that the administration was not told about requests for extra security in Libya contradicted the sworn testimony of state department officials.
A congressional panel has already heard there had been repeated requests to the state department for beefed-up security at the diplomatic compound.
In the days after the attack, Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, described it as a “spontaneous” assault that arose out of a protest against a US-made amateur video which mocks Islam.
But US officials have since said the government had never concluded the attack was motivated by the film.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are preparing to face off in their second debate later on Tuesday, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.
Mitt Romney was widely acknowledged as having the upper hand in the first debate, which was reflected in the opinion polls, with many showing for the first time in the campaign Mitt Romney in the lead.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens died of smoke inhalation when he was trapped alone in the burning consulate building on 11 September. Three other officials were killed, and three wounded.
Earlier this week, the father of Ambassador Christopher Stevens said it would be “abhorrent” to turn his son’s death into a campaign issue.
“Our position is it would be a real shame if this were politicized,” Jan Stevens said.
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A single shot was fired through the window of President Barack Obama’s Denver campaign office Friday, according to police.
Police spokeswoman Raquel Lopez says people were inside the office when the shooting happened in the afternoon, but no one was injured.
A large panel of glass was left shattered at the office on West Ninth Avenue near Acoma Street.
Raquel Lopez says investigators are looking at surveillance video but have not yet confirmed a description of a vehicle that might be linked to the shooting. Police didn’t immediately release other details while detectives pursue leads.
She says she isn’t aware of any previous threats against the campaign office.
A large panel of glass was left shattered at Barack Obama’s campaign office on West Ninth Avenue near Acoma Street in Denver
The incident happened at around 3:00 p.m., according to The Denver Post. Sam Levin, a reporter for the alternative newspaper Westword, later posted a photo on Twitter showing one of the office’s large, front windows shattered.
By early evening, the window shards had been removed and a glass company was putting plywood up.
The Secret Service referred questions about the incident to Denver police.
An Obama campaign spokeswoman declined to comment.
Politico reported that the president’s re-election campaign has more than 30 field offices across all of Colorado – a major battleground state in advance of the November 6 election.
Denver was also the site of the first presidential debate between Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama.
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A CNN poll of the U.S. vice-presidential debate watchers released following Thursday’s matchup between Republican Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden showed 48% of respondents named Ryan the winner and 44% said Biden won.
The margin between the two candidates was within the poll’s five point sampling error.
A poll taken immediately after last week’s first presidential debate showed a much more decisive victory for Mitt Romney.
Sixty seven percent of debate watchers questioned said that the Republican nominee won the faceoff, with one in four saying that President Barack Obama was victorious.
Vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan have begun their one and only debate, as polling show the US election race tightening.
Vice-President Joe Biden and Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, clashed for 90 minutes at a college in Kentucky.
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US vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan clashed sharply in their only debate, amid tightening polls ahead of the 6 November election.
Thursday night’s debate saw feisty exchanges on national security, the economy, taxes and healthcare.
Democrat Joe Biden was aggressive, frequently interrupting his rival as he defended President Barack Obama.
Republican Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan was comparatively calm in his first debate on the national stage.
The head-to-head came as Democrats try to rejuvenate their campaign after what was widely seen as a poor debate performance by Barack Obama last week.
The Republican challenger, former Massachusetts governor and businessman Mitt Romney, has gained steadily in the polls as a result.
The president has acknowledged he was “too polite”, and it appeared his campaign unleashed Joe Biden on Thursday night to attack Mitt Romney on taxes, government spending, the economy and other issues.
The vice-president repeatedly cut off Paul Ryan, chuckling, rolling his eyes and raising his hands in apparent exasperation, even as he referred to his rival as “my friend”.
But Paul Ryan seemed not to be rattled. His goal was to defend Mitt Romney’s recent gains against a renewed onslaught from Barack Obama, analysts said.
On stage at Centre College in Kentucky, the vice-presidential candidates jousted as moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News sought to keep order.
The debate opened with an exchange on Libya, where a US ambassador was killed last month in what the Obama administration now calls a terrorist attack.
Joe Biden defended the Obama administration’s handling of the situation, as well as its initially inaccurate characterization of the incident as a reaction to an anti-Islamic video made in the US.
And he pivoted to attack Mitt Romney, saying the Republican’s decision to hold a political press conference the morning after the attack was “not presidential leadership”.
In one of many barbs, he said Paul Ryan’s criticisms of the administration’s handling of the crisis were “a bunch of malarkey. Not a single thing he said is accurate”.
Paul Ryan, meanwhile, said the administration had disregarded diplomats’ requests for more security in Libya.
And in a charge he repeated later, Paul Ryan said: “What we are watching on our TV screens is the unravelling of the Obama foreign policy.”
The men argued about Iran and the US relationship with Israel, but showed little substantive difference between their tickets’ respective policies.
“When Barack Obama was elected, [Iran] had enough fissile material – nuclear material to make one bomb,” Paul Ryan said.
“Now they have enough for five.”
Joe Biden said international sanctions against Iran had crippled that nation’s economy, and challenged Paul Ryan to clarify where Republican policy on Iran differs from the administration’s.
“So all this bluster I keep hearing, all this loose talk, what are they talking about?” he asked.
On the economy, Joe Biden said the president had inherited a nation teetering on ruin – a result, he said repeatedly, of the Republican policies of George W Bush.
And he defended the president’s remedies, especially a programme – that Mitt Romney opposed – to save US auto manufacturers from bankruptcy.
“We knew we had to act for the middle class,” Joe Biden said.
“We immediately went out and rescued General Motors.”
He added: “What did Romney do? Romney said, <<No, let Detroit go bankrupt>>.”
Joe Biden also unleashed a broadside against Mitt Romney’s recently publicized comments that the 47% of Americans who pay no federal income tax are dependent on government, consider themselves victims, and should take responsibility for themselves.
“I’ve never met two guys who are more down on America across the board,” he said, referring to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.
Paul Ryan sought to deflect the attack with a story about Mitt Romney’s personal generosity and by referring to Joe Biden’s own record of verbal blunders.
He acknowledged Barack Obama had inherited an economy near collapse, but added: “We’re going in the wrong direction.”
He noted the continuing high unemployment rate and other grim statistics.
“This is not what a real recovery looks like,” the congressman said, promising that Mitt Romney’s tax plans would add jobs and promote economic growth.
Later, the two outlined their competing plans on the Medicare healthcare programme for over-65s.
Joe Biden defended the administration’s 2010 health insurance overhaul, dubbed Obamacare; Paul Ryan derided it as a government takeover of the healthcare industry and repeated a disputed assertion that Barack Obama had pulled money from Medicare in order to fund it.
With the election less than four weeks away, the rivals were tasked with keeping their respective campaigns competitive, as new polls suggest Mitt Romney has narrowed or erased Barack Obama’s lead in several key swing states.
The two candidates are virtually tied in Florida and Virginia while Barack Obama still leads in Ohio, but by a slimmer margin.
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President Barack Obama has enjoyed a surge in Facebook “likes”, thanks to a co-ordinated social media campaign.
His team paid for “Sponsored Stories” to appear in some users’ Facebook news feeds – regardless of whether they wanted to receive them.
President Barack Obama’s page received more than one million “likes” in a single day – compared with about 30,000 per day in earlier weeks.
But some observers warned the approach could frustrate and dissuade voters.
It comes at a time when both President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney are stepping up their efforts on social media.
The opponents each have a presence on a host of digital communities, including streaming music service Spotify, image-sharing network Pinterest and the Facebook-owned picture network Instagram – where Mitt Romney has been busy posting pictures of himself at home with his family.
But users were quick to voice their annoyance as President Barack Obama campaign advertisements and messages appeared within Facebook news feeds.
“Why is Barack Obama on my Facebook newsfeed?” wrote a young female user from Illinois.
“I’m getting really sick of those Obama ads sponsored on my Facebook page,” wrote another.
Barack Obama has enjoyed a surge in Facebook “likes”, thanks to a co-ordinated social media campaign
One user, in a message directed at President Barack Obama’s Twitter account, demanded: “Quit trying to promote yourself on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. I never <<liked>> or <<followed>> you.”
Dr. Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon, from the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), said that this kind of campaigning was part of a transition period – which Facebook users may take some time to get used to.
“Before there were physical spaces where people discussed politics – the public sphere has been reconfigured,” she said.
The growth comes as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney look to ramp up their use of digital and social media ahead of November’s vote.
In 2008, Barack Obama’s campaign was praised for its innovative use of social media to engage young, often first-time, voters.
This time around, the efforts have been stepped up a notch. Both candidates have invested in getting good placement on both Facebook and Twitter – with campaign teams placing ads that appear whenever a certain word, such as “debate”, is searched for by a user.
President Barack Obama took to answering questions on popular link listings site Reddit – a move that went down well with the site’s clientele but was dismissed as a quick-win publicity stunt by his detractors.
The president has even had his team place adverts within video games. The top-selling American Football title – EA’s Madden NFL 13 – had images advertising President Barack Obama’s website, voteforchange.com.
Other EA titles – including the classic Tetris – were also used to promote Obama’s campaign.
Mitt Romney’s campaign team told American broadcaster NPR they too had used video games for advertising.
Both campaigns would have hoped that swamping the digital world with their “message” was a surefire election hit. However, research conducted by the University of Pennsylvania suggested a different picture.
Of 1,503 internet-using American adults surveyed by the university’s school of communications, 86% said they did not want to receive political messages tailored for them, and 70% said seeing ads from a candidate they already supported would in fact decrease their chance of voting for them.
“The findings represent a national statement of concern,” said Prof. Joseph Turow, lead researcher on the study.
“We have a major attitudinal tug of war – the public’s emphatic and broad rejection of tailored political ads pulling against political campaigns’ growing adoption of tailored political advertising without disclosing when they are using individuals’ information and how.
“Our survey shows that in the face of these activities, Americans themselves want information.”
Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon said that politicians – and indeed anyone using social media to advertise – must be wary of a “red line” that should not be crossed when dealing with worries of intruding into people’s private digital lives.
She recounted an incident in 2004 when Italy’s then-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s office sent out text messages reminding people to vote in upcoming elections – causing a political row in the process.
“Receiving a text message on your mobile was a way more serious transgression of your private sphere than seeing a sponsored ad on Facebook,” she said.
Sponsored story spat
President Barack Obama’s campaign team used Facebook’s Sponsored Stories function to place their paid-for messages.
However one lawsuit, which the social network has been fighting since 2011, said the feature was violating Californian law by publicizing users’ “likes” without compensation or a way to opt-out.
Facebook’s proposed settlement in the case amounts to $20 million and would allow for individual users covered by the ruling to claim up to $10 each in compensation from the company.
The proposed settlement also outlines new ways of making it easier for children on Facebook to opt-out of the Sponsored Stories feature.
The creators of Big Bird have called on the Obama campaign to withdraw a new advertisement that uses the character in an attack on rival Mitt Romney.
The ad mocks the Republican candidate for singling out the public broadcaster behind Sesame Street for spending cuts.
Mitt Romney said in a presidential debate last week that he would slash funding to PBS, despite liking Big Bird.
Opinion polls suggest Mitt Romney has hit Barack Obama’s lead after the Republican’s strong debate performance.
With election day looming on 6 November, the two White House rivals campaigned on Tuesday in the key election swing state of Ohio.
The creators of Big Bird have called on the Obama campaign to withdraw a new advertisement that uses the character in an attack on rival Mitt Romney
Sesame Workshop, the non-profit behind the long-running children’s show, said in a statement that it was a nonpartisan organization.
“We do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns,” the organization said.
“We have approved no campaign ads and, as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.”
Barack Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the campaign was considering the request.
The US government partially funds PBS and National Public Radio, both targets of conservative politicians.
Barack Obama has used Mitt Romney’s comments in their first debate to attack the Republican candidate’s spending priorities.
The advertisement pokes fun at Mitt Romney with clips of him mentioning Big Bird and PBS throughout the campaign.
“One man has the guts to say his name,” says the ad, flashing to Mitt Romney and then the feathered character.
“Big. Yellow. A menace to our economy. Mitt Romney knows it’s not Wall Street you have to worry about. It’s Sesame Street.”
A Mitt Romney spokesman accused the Obama campaign on Tuesday of not focusing on serious issues.
“I just find it troubling that the president’s message, the president’s focus 28 days from election day, is Big Bird,” Kevin Madden told reporters.
The latest Reuters poll suggests Mitt Romney has erased Barack Obama’s advantage with voters on a range of issues, including the economy.
A Pew Research Center poll indicated Mitt Romney was leading the president by four points.
And according to a Gallup poll, Mitt Romney was at 49% to Barack Obama’s 47% among likely voters. However, Barack Obama was leading in the same survey among registered voters.
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Mitt Romney won the first presidential debate in Denver by a whopping 52-point margin according to Gallup.
The result is the most resounding margin since the polling giant began tracking debates 20 years ago.
In results published today, three times more people thought Mitt Romney did a better job than Barack Obama in last week’s so-called Duel in Denver presidential debate, according to the polling giants.
The poll about the Wednesday night’s debate in Denver, watched by 67 million people, was conducted on Thursday and Friday. Of those who watched, 72% thought Mitt Romney did a better job compared to 20% for Barack Obama.
Even among Democrats, 49% thought Mitt Romney was the winner with only 39% of Barack Obama’s own party stating that he was victorious.
The previous largest margin was 42 points for Bill Clinton over President George H.W. Bush in the 1992 town hall debate in which Bush famously looked at his watch and Clinton proved masterful in expressing empathy for ordinary voters.
At the same time, Gallup detected a five-point national poll swing from Barack Obama to Mitt Romney, putting the two candidates on level pegging at 47 percentage points each over the three days after the debate and halting the movements towards Obama since the Democratic convention.
Meanwhile, the respected Pew Research Center reported the most dramatic shift in a national poll during the entire general election campaign, with Mitt Romney’s fortunes improving in almost every respect. The center reported also pulling even with Barack Obama on 46%.
His personal image has improved with favorable rating hitting 50% registered voters for the first time in a Pew survey and up five points since September. At the same, Barack Obama’s personal favorability has dropped six points to 49%.
Pew found that Mitt Romney made substantial gains over the past month among women, whites and those younger than 50. He even drew level among women, where Barack Obama has held a clear advantage for months and by 18 points a month ago.
The debate survey is a welcome turnaround for Mitt Romney from the Gallup poll taken after the Republican convention that found his speech was the worst received of all major party nominees stretching back to Bob Dole, the GOP candidate in 1996. Some 37% of people found Mitt Romney speech “Ok”, “poor” or “terrible”.
Pew registered a 46% margin of victory in the debate for Mitt Romney with 66% of registered voters saying he did the better job in Denver and 20% saying Obama prevailed.
Immediately after the debate, a snap CNN poll found that 67% believed Mitt Romney won compared to 25% who said Barack Obama was the victory. Another instant poll by CBS gave Mitt Romney 46%, 22% for Barack Obama and 32% a tie.
Mitt Romney has called for a “change of course” in the Middle East, criticizing US President Barack Obama on foreign policy.
Speaking in Virginia, the Republican presidential candidate lambasted the White House over an attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador.
Mitt Romney said he would put Iran “on notice” over its nuclear plans, and called for arms to go to Syrian rebels.
With four weeks to go before the election, polls show Barack Obama retains a foreign policy lead over his rival.
Mitt Romney spoke at the Virginia Military Institute for his first major policy speech since the candidates met on Wednesday for their first face-to-face debate, on the US economy.
Barack Obama was widely seen as having “lost” the debate after a hesitant performance in Denver. Their vice-presidential running mates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will debate on Thursday.
Mitt Romney has repeatedly criticized the president for a foreign policy that he believes has left the US less respected and less powerful in the world.
In his speech at the military institute he said he wanted to “offer a larger perspective on these tragic recent events” and share his vision for a “freer, more prosperous, and more peaceful world”.
Mitt Romney linked the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya to the president’s foreign policy and criticized his administration’s response.
“The attacks on America last month should not be seen as random acts,” Mitt Romney said.
“They are expressions of a larger struggle that is playing out across the broader Middle East – a region that is now in the midst of the most profound upheaval in a century.”
“This latest assault cannot be blamed on a reprehensible video insulting Islam, despite the administration’s attempts to convince us of that for so long.”
Initial reports said the protests and attacks were sparked by an anti-Islam film made in the US. But since the attack, the Obama administration has said that the attack in Benghazi, which killed US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others, involved some people “linked to groups affiliated with, or sympathetic to al-Qaeda”.
Mitt Romney was criticized at the time after saying that the administration appeared to “sympathize with those who waged the attacks” before the situation in Libya and at another protest in Egypt became clear.
The White House has faced repeated questions over the security situation in Benghazi in the run-up to the attack.
On Monday, US media reported that Ambassador Stevens wanted a specialized security team to stay past their August deployment, but that the staff was told to make-do “with less”.
A state department official told ABC News that embassy’s security officer never made a specific request for the team to stay and that there was no net loss of security personnel.
Mitt Romney – whose foreign affairs team includes advisers from the “realist” and “neo-conservative” wings of the Republican establishment – repeatedly accused Barack Obama of being soft in foreign affairs.
He was particularly tough on the administration’s policy in the Middle East, asserting: “Hope is not a strategy”.
Mitt Romney said the US was missing “an historic opportunity to win new friends who share our values in the Middle East” and said there was “a longing for American leadership” in region.
On Iran, Mitt Romney said “will not hesitate to impose new sanctions”, describing Tehran as “never closer” to a nuclear weapons capability.
“For the sake of peace, we must make clear to Iran through actions – not just words – that their nuclear pursuit will not be tolerated.”
On Syria, Mitt Romney said Barack Obama had “failed to lead” and said that his administration would work “with our partners to identify and organize those members of the [Syrian] opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets”.
During his remarks, Mitt Romney also gave strong words of support on Israel, arguing “the world must never see any daylight between our two nations”.
He also used the speech to argue against expected US defence cuts and for increased US Navy shipbuilding, as many as 15 a year, including three submarines.
Before Mitt Romney spoke, the Obama campaign released an ad highlighting his gaffe-laden international trip this summer as well as his response to the Libya attack.
“We’re not going to be lectured by someone who has been an unmitigated disaster on foreign policy,” Barack Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday.
The two candidates will debate foreign policy in their last meeting on 22 October.
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Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to the US, a congressional panel has warned after an investigation into the two firms.
The two firms should be barred from any mergers and acquisitions in the US, the panel has recommended in its report set to be released later on Monday.
It said the firms had failed to allay fears about their association with the Chinese government and military.
The two are among the world’s biggest makers of telecom networking equipment.
“China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes,” the committee said in its report.
“Based on available classified and unclassified information, Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our systems.”
Both Huawei and ZTE have previously denied the allegations.
Huawei was started by Ren Zhengfei, a former member of the People’s Liberation Army, in 1987.
As the firm has grown to become one of the largest global players in the sector, fears about its ties with the Chinese military have frequently surfaced.
There have been concerns and allegations that it was helping China gather information on foreign states and companies, charges that the firm has denied.
Last year, its purchase of American computer company 3Leaf systems, was rejected by a US security panel.
Earlier this year, it along with ZTE, faced allegations that some of their equipment had been installed with codes to relay sensitive information back to China.
Senior executives from the two companies denied those allegations when they appeared before US lawmakers in September.
This latest report comes in the midst of a US presidential campaign in which China has become a political hot topic.
Both President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney have pledged to increase the pressure on Beijing on issues ranging from China’s currency policy to state subsidies for Chinese firms.
Earlier this month, Barack Obama signed an order blocking a deal by a Chinese firm, Ralls Corp, to acquire four wind farm projects near a US naval facility in Oregon.
It was the first foreign investment to be blocked in the US for 22 years.
The Chinese firm has since sued Barack Obama, alleging the US government overstepped its authority.
William Plummer, Huawei’s vice-president, said the latest accusations against the telecom firm were politically motivated.
“The integrity and independence of Huawei’s organization and business practices are trusted and respected across almost 150 markets,” he was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
“Purporting that Huawei is somehow uniquely vulnerable to cyber mischief ignores technical and commercial realities, recklessly threatens American jobs and innovation, does nothing to protect national security, and should be exposed as dangerous political distractions.”
Mitt Romney has raised $12 million in online donations over the last couple of days, and has also received a two point boost in the respected Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll after Denver debate.
The news comes as Barack Obama’s lacklustre showing continues to be mocked by top comedians – even those who are strong supporters of the President.
The poll shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 49% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns the vote from 47%.
In addition, Mitt Romney’s campaign took in a donation haul of $12 million via his website in just 48 hours after the conclusion of the debate in Denver, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The bump in fundraising was even bigger than those recorded after the announcement of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Barack Obama’s healthcare law.
In addition, 60% of those donating online had never given money to the campaign before.
The increase in small contributions from first-time donors is a significant change for Mitt Romney’s campaign.
The former governor of Massachusetts has previously relied more on large donations from wealthy supporters, in contrast to Barack Obama’s grassroots network of givers.
Other indicators of campaign strength have also been promising for Mitt Romney – aides have reported seeing an upturn in the number of volunteers at offices around the country.
It is still too early to tell whether the aftermath of the debate will shore up the candidate’s position in the polls over the long run, but early signs are encouraging for the Republican.
Rasmussen polls showed Mitt Romney gaining a lead in Florida and Virginia, both states which he must win in order to have a realistic shot at the White House.
Barack Obama has been the target of political satirists ever since his disappointing debate performance – and the jokes do not seem to be letting up.
Jay Leno made a reference to the huge audience for the televised event during his talk show on Friday.
“They’re saying close to 60 million people may have watched the debate,” he said.
“In fact, the only person who didn’t tune in, I think, was President Obama.”
Comedian Bill Maher, a passionate Obama supporter who gave $1 million to a Democratic super PAC, also had harsh words for the President.
“It looks like he took my million and spent it all on weed,” Bill Maher said.
However, Barack Obama also had good news as it was revealed that he and the Democratic party had together raised $181 million in September, the most lucrative month of his re-election campaign,
The President’s fundraising haul topped the $114 million raised during the month of August.
He said in a message on Twitter that more than 1.8 million people donated in September, including over 500,000 who had not donated before in 2008 or 2012.
The $181 million was slightly less than Barack Obama’s record of $190 million in September 2008.
As election day approaches, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney continue to reach for issues each other can use as a stick to beat his opponent.
Find out where rivals Barack Obama and Mitt Romney stand on each of the key issues ahead of the debate and where the biggest differences could emerge.
1. Economy
Barack Obama
Signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, known as the stimulus, a $768 billion package of tax cuts and investment in education, infrastructure, energy research, health, and other programmes. Backed a bailout of the US auto industry; signed trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.
Mitt Romney
Plan centres on tax cuts, repeal of Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform law and repeal of 2010 Wall Street and banking regulations, and in general the reduction of other regulations he says stifle economic growth. Opposed the auto industry bailout; proposes to reduce federal spending significantly but gives few details about which programmes he would cut.
2. Taxes
Barack Obama
Has cut effective taxes for most Americans; would repeal Bush-era tax cuts for households making more than $250,000 a year; proposes the “Buffet rule” named for billionaire Warren Buffet, which would increase the effective tax rate paid by millionaires.
Mitt Romney
Would make permanent all Bush-era tax cuts, further cut individual income tax rates, eliminate taxes on investment income, repeal the estate tax, and reduce the corporate income tax rate. According to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, taxpayers at high income levels would see the greatest benefit. Would make up the revenue by closing unspecified tax loopholes.
3. Iran
Barack Obama
Says he is determined to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon; opposes a near-term military strike by US or Israel on Iran’s nuclear facilities; emphasizes need for a diplomatic solution but warns “that window is closing” and has said “all options are at the table”; signed new sanctions against Iran’s central bank, oil revenues and financial system.
Mitt Romney
Says it is unacceptable for Iran to possess a nuclear weapon; says military action “remains on the table” and analysts say he presents a clearer military threat to Iran; would send Navy ships to patrol the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf; calls for more sanctions; would publicly back Iranian opposition groups.
4. National security and war
Barack Obama
Has killed much of al-Qaeda’s leadership, including Osama Bin Laden; pulled US troops out of Iraq; agreed to a $487 million reduction in defence spending over 10 years with congressional Republicans.
Mitt Romney
Would spend heavily on military hardware and invest in missile defence, adding an estimated $100 billion to the Pentagon’s budget, while reducing the civilian defence bureaucracy.
5. Afghanistan
Barack Obama
Initially increased the number of troops in Afghanistan; has begun a draw-down of US troops with the combat mission to end by 2014.
Mitt Romney
Has said his “goal” would be “a successful transition to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014” but pledges to review withdrawal plans and base them “on conditions on the ground as assessed by our military commanders”
6. Healthcare
Barack Obama
Vast 2010 healthcare reform law aims for universal health insurance coverage by requiring individuals who are not otherwise covered to purchase insurance, while restricting insurers’ ability to deny coverage based on pre-existing ailments. The law offers states grants to increase enrolment of poor people in the Medicaid public insurance programme.
Mitt Romney
Would seek repeal of Barack Obama’s health law, though it is modeled on a law he signed in Massachusetts; would return most health policy to the states; would limit doctor malpractice lawsuits; would encourage individuals without insurance to buy it on the private market, including by purchasing it in other states with lighter coverage requirements and lower costs
7. Illegal immigration
Barack Obama
Used executive power to grant legal status to certain young illegal immigrants, bypassing Republicans in Congress. Has dramatically increased deportations of illegal immigrants.
Mitt Romney
Criticizes Barack Obama’s “stopgap” measure on young illegal immigrants but does not say whether he would overturn it. Says the US should encourage migrants to “self-deport” by making life hard for them.
8. Abortion
Barack Obama
Supports abortion rights; appointed two Supreme Court justices who appear to favor abortion rights.
Mitt Romney
Says “My presidency will be a pro-life presidency”, though he supported abortion rights when he was running for governor Massachusetts in 2002. Supports overturning the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion and allowing states to decide whether abortion should be legal; would strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood women’s health clinics.
9. Energy
Barack Obama
Supports investment in clean energy such as wind turbines and advanced car batteries; tightened car fuel efficiency and emissions standards; blocked development of the Keystone oil pipeline to move oil sands crude from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, saying the US had not had sufficient time to judge its environmental impact.
Mitt Romney
Would ease regulations hindering coal-burning power plants, oil exploration and nuclear power plant construction; would encourage drilling for oil in the Atlantic and Pacific outer continental shelves; proposes to ease regulations. Pledges to build the Keystone pipeline.
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It is well-known that The Obamas have a well-documented relationship with Oprah Winfrey, but now Mitt and Ann Romney have opened up to the chat show host for the first time.
The Republican power couple welcomed the media mogul into their roomy New Hampshire holiday home on Lake Winnipesaukee, to talk about family, religion, food and, of course, politics.
Casually dressed in jeans, with the top button of his shirt undone, Mitt Romney even took it upon himself to pack Oprah Winfrey a doggie bag for the road, as they finished off in the kitchen.
“Ann makes these little meatloaf cakes with sweet sauce on top.
“Meatloaf cakes and mashed potatoes. Best thing in the world,” he exclaimed during the interview, which is included in the November issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.
Although Oprah Winfrey has seen President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle at the White House on several occasions, it was the first time she had met with Mitt and Ann Romney.
And it seems that she was taken with the “strong family vibe” created by the duo, adding that “cute little kids just seemed to keep coming out of every nook and corner” during her visit.
As well as Mitt Romney revealing his favorite dishes, he also addressed a number of meatier topics.
Asked at what point, did he know that he wanted to be president, he replied: “Not any time during my youth.”
Adding: “As a little boy I wanted to be a policeman. And then as I got older and I saw my dad in the car business, an automobile executive.”
But now aged 65, Mitt Romney remains determined to claim victory in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
He told Oprah Winfrey: “It do believe I’m going to win.
“I think in the debates we’ll be able to get down to, what do you believe in, how can we help the country? And I think when we do that, we’ll end up winning.”
Meanwhile Ann Romney, who is a mother-of-five and grandmother to 18, stayed focused on the subject of family and her 14-year battle with multiple sclerosis.
She also revealed that despite making regular small-screen appearances, she does not watch television anymore, because she “just can’t deal with it, if I’m going to have the calmness and peace that I need to have.”
Oprah Winfrey also interviewed Barack and Michelle Obama at the Green Room in the White House, for the same issue of her glossy publication.
Describing his vision for the world Barack Obama, who dressed in a suit and tie for the meeting, said: “Michelle accuses me of being a congenital optimist, but it’s true. I think people are capable of great evil but are fundamentally good.
“I want America to continue to be on the side of expanding justice and freedom and opportunity.”
Meanwhile Michelle Obama revealed that she often finds it difficult to discuss things with her husband, as he has so many other things on his mind.
Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey: ”I’m stockpiling a list of issues that I’d like to discuss with him in 2016.”
The US unemployment rate fell in September to its lowest rate since January 2009, figures from the Department of Labor have shown, surprising analysts who had been expecting a small rise.
September’s rate came in at 7.8%, down from 8.1% in August.
The latest data also showed that the US economy added a further 114,000 jobs in September, slightly more than markets had expected.
The US jobs market is a key issue in the presidential election race.
When the unemployment rate was last this low, President Barack Obama was about to take office.
However, economist Sean Incremona of New York-based company 4Cast said the latest data showed that the US economy remained subdued.
“Generally, we are still seeing a mixed underlying picture that is neither too impressive nor terrible,” he said.
Fellow economist, Omer Esiner, of Rhode Island-based Commonwealth Foreign Exchange, was more upbeat.
“The headline of the day is clearly the drop in the unemployment rate, which was a big surprise,” he said.
“There is something in these numbers for everyone. The rise in the participation rate shows somewhat of a real improvement in the labour market.”
The latest official data showed that the construction sector added 5,000 jobs last month, while the number of people working in government jobs rose by 10,000.
However, the biggest gain was record in the healthcare sector, which added 44,000 jobs in September.
The Labor Department also used the release of the September data to revise up how many new jobs were created in both July and August. It said that 86,000 more jobs than first calculated were added across the two months.
Separate official figures released at the end of last month revised down by how much the US economy had grown between April and June.
Gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter grew at an annualized rate of 1.3%, down from the previous estimate of 1.7%.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has admitted his remark that 47% of Americans are government dependent victims was “completely wrong”.
Mitt Romney told Fox News he was committed to “helping the 100%”.
His comments, secretly filmed at a fundraiser in September, were possibly his most damaging campaign moment.
Polls suggest he is back on track after a debate with President Barack Obama this week. Barack Obama has urged him to reveal the true cost of his policies.
Observers say the president is seeking to portray his rival as dishonest about how middle class families will be taxed, while Mitt Romney wants to distance himself from his earlier gaffe.
After the video emerged from the private donors dinner in September, Mitt Romney said his remarks were “inelegantly stated” but did not retract them.
However, Mitt Romey went further in his interview with Fox on Thursday.
“Clearly in a campaign with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you are going to say something that doesn’t come out right,” he said.
“In this case I said something that’s just completely wrong. I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100%… When I become president, it will be about helping the 100%.”
Most observers agree that Mitt Romney won the televised debate on Wednesday. A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Thursday suggested Mitt Romney had a net positive rating for the first time in the presidential campaign.
The poll said 51% of voters viewed him positively, with Barack Obama at 56%. The Republican moved ahead of his Democrat rival on which candidate voters trust to handle the economy, create jobs and manage the deficit.
Many of Barack Obama’s supporters are puzzled he chose not to bring up the 47% comments in the debate, although his campaign has used the remarks in a television advert.
At a rally in Denver on Thursday, Barack Obama urged his rival to tell the “truth” about his own policies.
“The real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. The fellow on stage last night said he didn’t know anything about that,” he said.
At a campaign rally in Virginia, Mitt Romney did not respond directly to the president’s criticism.
But he did argue that Barack Obama had failed during the debate to make his case for another term.
During Wednesday night’s head-to-head Mitt Romney repeatedly denied the $5 trillion claim.
Fact-checkers have said that Mitt Romney’s proposal to lower taxes by 20%, abolish estate tax and the alternative minimum tax would reduce revenue by $5tn over a decade.
The Republican has said he would help offset that by eliminating tax loopholes; the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says the sums do not add up.
The candidates went head to head for 90 minutes on jobs, taxes and healthcare.
Opinion polls agreed that Mitt Romney had the upper hand in the debate – the first of three between the White House rivals.
Various surveys gave Mitt Romney a 46-67% margin, with Barack Obama trailing on 22-25%.
The president was criticized for appearing hesitant and subdued, while the former governor – who has been lagging in the race – seemed animated and assertive.
Vice-presidential candidates Joe Biden and Paul Ryan will meet in Danville, Kentucky on 11 October, before the second presidential debate on 16 October.
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