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Mitt Romney has doubled his lead in a new national poll just hours after the final presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida.
Just two weeks to go until election day it is unclear whether President Barack Obama will be able to make up the gap.
Mitt Romney held a four-point lead in the Rasmussen tracking poll released on Tuesday, with 50% of the vote compared to 46% for Barack Obama. In Monday’s poll he led by two points.
In addition, Mitt Romney’s lead was five points in swing states and as many as nine points among self-declared independent voters.
The poll was released just a few hours after the third and last debate of the presidential election campaign, which saw the two candidates clash over foreign affairs in Boca Raton.
Barack Obama showed off his foreign-policy experience, repeatedly patronizing his opponent as he accused him off being “all over the map” on how to deal with the world, even describing him as “wrong and reckless”.
But Mitt Romney held his own in the face of Barack Obama’s sustained assaults, working hard to establish his credentials as a sober and steady statesman with an obviously well-briefed analysis of world matters, from Iran to Poland to Mali.
The two bitter rivals were meeting for the final time at Lynn University in Boca Raton with all to play for in a neck-and-neck race for the White House.
CNN’s survey of debate-watchers showed that 48% considered the President the winner, with 40% favoring Romney and 12% undecided. A CBS poll had Barack Obama in front with 53% compared to just 23% for Romney, with 24% on the fence.
The Rasmussen Reports poll released on Tuesday recounted only the results of surveys conducted before the debate, so it is not yet known whether either candidate will receive a boost from the evening.
Mitt Romney has doubled his lead in a new national poll just hours after the final presidential debate in Boca Raton
One contest Barack Obama undoubtedly won was that of loquaciousness – the President spoke for 41 minutes and 42 seconds, 35 seconds longer than Mitt Romney. The Democratic candidate had the majority of speaking time in all four presidential or vice-presidential debates this year.
It was Barack Obama who appeared to be the challenger at times – a clear sign that he fears his re-election hopes are slipping away from him – hammering away at Mitt Romney, trying to belittle him and all but calling him a liar.
Mitt Romney tried to remain above the fray and appeal to moderate and undecided voters. He was noticeably less tetchy than in the bad-tempered second debate in Hempstead, New York.
But Mitt Romney hit home with a precise attack on Barack Obama’s “apology tour” of the Middle East in 2009, which seemed to rile Obama visibly. He said that the President had said he was sorry the U.S. had dictated to countries, adding: “Mr. President we have not dictated to other nations, we have freed other nations from dictators.”
The Romney campaign appeared confident in the aftermath of the debate, arguing that Barack Obama was “shedding voters” and was “trying to manage the rate of decline” in support ahead of election day.
“We entered this debate in a good position and we leave it in a stronger position,” said strategist Stuart Stevens.
“Whatever is that intangible quality of being presidential and who you would trust, Governor Romney had it more than the President.”
Speaking about Barack Obama’s performance in Boca Raton, Stuart Stevens added: “It was not the demeanor you would expect of a President. He came in with a bunch of political talking points like a young fresh graduate of a spin class trying to come off with these points.”
But the President’s campaign manager Jim Messina described Mitt Romney as “unsteady”, adding that he “did not look like a commander-in-chief. He did not pass the test and that’s a very bad moment for the Romney campaign”.
Jim Messina continued: “The contrast tonight was between a strong and steady President and an uncertain Romney and that’s how incumbent presidents get re-elected.”
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Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney have battled over national security in the third and final presidential debate at Boca Raton, Florida.
The rivals tangled over the Arab Spring, Iran, China’s rise and more in a feisty 90-minute head-to-head.
Barack Obama said his Republican challenger was “all over the map” on foreign policy, while Mitt Romney said the president had failed to uphold American global leadership.
The two candidates are running neck and neck with two weeks until the election.
In the final debate, moderated by veteran CBS News presenter Bob Schieffer, there were no noticeable gaffes or knockout blows.
The forum at Lynn University featured little of the interrupting that marked their second encounter last week in New York, when Barack Obama came out swinging after his lackluster performance in their first head to head in Denver, Colorado.
The rivals found some common ground – each declared unequivocal support for Israel and both voiced opposition to US military involvement in Syria.
Mitt Romney also said he agreed with the president’s policy of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan by 2014 – the Republican has suggested otherwise in the past.
In laying out one of his overarching themes on foreign policy, Mitt Romney said the US under President Barack Obama’s leadership had allowed “tumult” to engulf the Middle East.
He cited civilian deaths in Syria, the rise of al-Qaeda affiliates in North Africa and Iran’s nuclear programme.
But the Republican steered clear of his suggestion in the last debate that the Obama administration had mishandled last month’s Libya US consulate attack, which left four Americans dead.
Barack Obama and his challenger Mitt Romney have battled over national security in the third and final presidential debate at Boca Raton
“What’s been happening over the last couple of years is, as we’re watching this tumult in the Middle East, this rising tide of chaos occur, you see al-Qaeda rushing in, you see other jihadist groups rushing in,” Mitt Romney said.
“I congratulate him on taking out Osama Bin Laden and taking on the leadership of al-Qaeda, but we can’t kill our way out of this… We must have a comprehensive strategy.”
Barack Obama hit back that he was glad that Mitt Romney had recognized the threat posed by al-Qaeda, reminding the former Massachusetts governor that he had earlier this year cast Russia as America’s number one geo-political foe.
The president sought to portray Mitt Romney as a foreign policy novice who lacked the consistency needed to be commander-in-chief.
Barack Obama said Mitt Romney had backed a continued troop presence in Iraq, opposed nuclear treaties with Russia, even when they had broad bipartisan backing, and accused the Republican of flip-flopping over whether the US should have a timeline for leaving Afghanistan.
“What we need to do with respect to the Middle East is strong, steady leadership, not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map,” Barack Obama said.
The president said that he had ended the war in Iraq and “decimated” al-Qaeda’s leadership, allowing the US to prepare a responsible timeline for withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Mitt Romney, whose book is called No Apology, accused Barack Obama of having gone on “an apology tour” after he took office and of saying at the time he would meet “all the world’s worst actors”, including leaders from North Korea and Iran.
“I think they looked at that and saw weakness,” Mitt Romney said.
The president hit back, saying: “Nothing Governor Romney has just said is true, starting with the notion of me apologizing,” a claim Barack Obama labeled the “biggest whopper” of the campaign.
The rivals also jostled to act tougher than the other on China, as allegations flew about trade violations and currency manipulation by Beijing.
Although the debate’s focus was meant to be on foreign affairs, the two candidates pivoted repeatedly back to the fragile US economy, the issue uppermost in voters’ minds.
Mitt Romney said he knew what it took to create jobs and boost pay, while Barack Obama was nine million jobs short of his pledge of 5.4% employment.
But Barack Obama accused Mitt Romney of planning $5 trillion of tax cuts and $2 trillion of defence spending the military had not even requested.
“You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916,” Barack Obama said in one of the night’s most memorable lines.
“Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed.”
An NBC poll on Sunday put the men in a dead heat, each with 47% support.
A lackluster performance by Barack Obama in the opening debate in Denver, Colorado, on 3 October gave Mitt Romney a campaign boost.
But in their second face-off in New York last week, a more aggressive Barack Obama buried the memory of a poor first showing as he came out swinging on the economy, tax and foreign policy.
After Monday night’s showdown, both candidates will be returning to the campaign trail for a grueling final two weeks of wooing voters in swing states.
The final debate behind them, both men will now launch a final fortnight of campaigning. Already four million ballots have been cast in early voting in more than two dozen states.
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US President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney are set to meet in their third and final debate ahead of 6 November’s presidential election – focusing on foreign policy.
Libya and Iran will likely feature, as well as terrorism, a rising China and the wars in Afghanistan and Syria.
The 90-minute televised event in Boca Raton, Florida will be their last head-to-head clash before the election and is expected to draw 60 million viewers.
An NBC poll on Sunday put the men in a dead heat, each with 47% support.
Monday’s debate at Lynn University will begin at 21:00 EDT and see the candidates seated at desks in a contest moderated by CBS News’ veteran anchorman Bob Schieffer.
Barack Obama will be aiming to stress his commander-in-chief credentials as the man who neutralized Osama Bin Laden and ended the Iraq war, analysts say: He will be trying to portray Mitt Romney as lacking the experience to steer the nation through a crisis.
For his part, Mitt Romney is expected to push his campaign’s position that US foreign policy is “unravelling before our very eyes”.
At a confrontational second debate in New York last week, Mitt Romney said the 11 September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi – which killed four Americans including the US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens – and wider anti-American violence in the Middle East were symptomatic of that decline.
The Republican candidate accused Barack Obama of initially downplaying the role of radical Islamists in the Benghazi attack – in order to protect a successful anti-terrorist track record.
Barack Obama countered that he had denounced the killing as “an act of terror”, snapping that Mitt Romney should “check the transcript” rather than trying to score political points from the tragedy.
The former Massachusetts governor has accused the president of not being firm enough in support of America’s principal Middle Eastern ally, Israel.
Barack Obama has a chilly relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and has refused to bow to Israeli pressure to issue ultimatums to Iran over its nuclear programme.
But while the president routinely says a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, he also praises the people of Iran.
On such issues, Mitt Romney has not spelt out what he would do differently – except be tougher. He has raised Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons – which Tehran denies – as evidence of President Barack Obama’s lack of leadership.
During the weekend, reports surfaced that the White House was open to one-on-one talks with Iran – but that there were no talks planned.
Mitt Romney will likely use the reports to show Barack Obama as weak.
While Barack Obama sees China as a competitor in the global market, Mitt Romney has been more outspoken on the emerging global superpower, saying Beijing cheats by manipulating the value of its currency against the US dollar – and that he will crack down.
But the millionaire businessman has also stumbled on international issues, managing to upset as many people as he impressed during a tour of Europe and Israel this summer.
Barack Obama spent the weekend preparing for the debate at the presidential retreat in Camp David in Maryland’s Catoctin mountains.
His opponent acclimatized in Florida with the same intensive preparations that have taken up much of his time this month.
A lackluster performance by Barack Obama in the opening debate in Denver, Colorado, on 3 October gave Mitt Romney a campaign boost, with polls perceiving the challenger as having won the debate by a wide margin.
But in their second face-off in New York last week, a more aggressive Barack Obama buried the memory of a poor first showing as he came out swinging on the economy, tax and foreign policy.
After Monday night’s showdown, both candidates will be returning to the campaign trail for a grueling final two weeks of wooing voters in swing states.
While analysts suggest the contests in some 40 states are as good as over, battles in states like Ohio, Florida and Virginia remain in the balance – and the key issues for many would-be voters remain the economy and jobs.
Much as Monday’s debate is about foreign policy, the candidates will use any opportunity to highlight the strengths of their economic policies, analysts say.
A new secret video clip has emerged of remarks by Mitt Romney, saying the Palestinians are committed to Israel’s destruction.
The Republican candidate tells donors the Middle East will “remain an unsolved problem… and we kick the ball down the field”.
The video is from the same event as a clip released on Monday, in which Mitt Romney says almost half of Americans “believe that they are victims”.
It comes less than two months before the presidential election.
The new footage was posted on Tuesday on the website of the liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones, which said it was taken at a fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida.
A new secret video clip has emerged of remarks by Mitt Romney, saying the Palestinians are committed to Israel's destruction
Mitt Romney is shown saying that Palestinians are “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel”.
“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” he says, adding that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish“.
In another clip, the former Massachusetts governor is shown discussing Iran’s nuclear programme, and warning that America itself could come under attack.
“If I were Iran – a crazed fanatic, I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, <<Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb>>.”
On Monday, Mother Jones posted another clip from the same fundraiser in which Mitt Romney disparages those who would vote for his Democratic rival, President Barack Obama.
The Republican candidate is shown saying that the 47% of Americans who back the president do not pay income tax and would never vote for Mitt Romney.
“There are 47% who are with him [Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
Mitt Romney said in the video that his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
In a late-night appearance on Monday, the Republican candidate said those remarks were not “elegantly stated”, but did not retract them.
The Obama campaign was quick to pounce.
“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
The video clips provided to Mother Jones are said to have been filmed at a $50,000 a head fundraiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
The pictures are blurred out with the exception of his face, and no attendees are visible.
Also on Monday, Mitt Romney’s campaign unveiled a significant reworking of its strategy less than two months before election day.
Until now his message to voters has largely consisted of repeated attacks on President Barack Obama’s economic record.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
The videos bookended a difficult 24 hours for the Romney campaign. On Sunday, a lengthy Politico story detailed apparent divisions and indecision within the campaign.
A series of opinion polls at the end of last week showed Mitt Romney trailing Barack Obama both nationally and in several swing states.
The two men square off in the election on 6 November, but early voting begins soon in several states.
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La-Fleu Mohamed, a Muslim woman from Florida, who is wearing a full face veil, has claimed she was refused service at a Chevron gas station.
La-Fleu Mohamed said the cashier refused to accept her business unless she could see her face.
The Muslim woman claimed she was told to leave the gas station in Boca Raton, Florida, and was left “humiliated”.
Chevron, owners of the gas station, said they have launched an investigation into the incident after La-Fleu Mohamed said she was the victim of religious discrimination.
A spokesman for Chevron confirmed the incident took place around Halloween.
The company’ spokesman Brent Tippen said: “We spoke with our employee cashier and reviewed the store surveillance tape. The incident occurred within a few days of Halloween – a time when retailers are prone to increased theft from persons wearing masks and other facial coverings.
“In light of this concern, we acknowledge that our employee did ask Ms Mohamed to remove her veil for security purposes; when she refused, she was denied service.
“We fully believe that our employee acted without the intent to violate Ms Mohamed’s religious principles and any suggestion that discrimination is acceptable at Chevron is completely false.
“Chevron employs 60,000 people from countries across the globe. Our Human Rights policy requires that we treat all people with respect and dignity.
“Regardless, we regret the misunderstanding. We have apologized twice to Ms Mohamed and encouraged our employees to be more aware of potential diversity issues.”
La-Fleu Mohamed said the cashier refused to accept her business unless she could see her face
La-Fleu Mohamed, who was wearing a niqab, or full face veil, claims she wanted to buy $20 worth of gas.
When she approached the cashier to hand over her money she said she was told “you can’t come in here dressed like that”.
La-Fleu Mohamed said: “I was very shocked.
“I said <<this is my religious right>> and she said <<well, I need to see your face>>.”
La-Fleu Mohamed said she asked the cashier again for gas and the woman “just threw my money back at me”.
The woman left the store after she said she was “humiliated” and called 911.
When police arrived she was escorted back inside, but was still refused service.
The South Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations have taken up her case and submitted a complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Rights.
La-Fleu Mohamed, who came to the United States from the Caribbean in the 80’s, said she converted to Islam 12 years ago.
“I’m a very polite person, I always say hi to everyone I see,” La-Fleu Mohamed said.
