FLTR: Final presidential debate

Tyler Hill writes:

The final presidential debate was held Monday at Lynn University in Florida. President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney went head-to-head in a debate focused on foreign policy.

Since receiving the nomination for their parties, there have been four debates: three presidential and one vice-presidential, and the only one that seemed to matter was the first one. The first debate was crucial for both candidates because it was the first national platform in which they could debate. Romney won the first debate by a landslide; according to a CNN poll, Romney won by 42 percent. If Obama had won, any chance of momentum for Romney would have been diminished.

The presidential debate went more in Obama’s favor because he was aggressive and convincingly delivered his talking points. Monday’s debate, however, was just boring. Romney changed his strategy to be more calm and less intrusive, a strategy his campaign thought would help with women voters. Obama, on the other hand, debated the way he did in the second debate in hopes to finish on a winning streak.

Frankly, no one won the third and final debate. Even the format was boring. The format of the first debate was the best. Each candidate had his own standing podium; standing candidates make way for more interesting body language, which can help or hinder a candidate.

Along with the candidates, the questions were dull and not enticing. Bob Schieffer, moderator and host of “Face the Nation,” is an Emmy award winning journalist and an outstanding news reporter, but he was not on his game during the debate. It was supposed to focus on foreign policy, but for a few segments it shifted to domestic and economic policy. Schieffer did not control the debate like he should have. Some say it was Romney’s fault for getting off topic, but the economy is Romney’s strong point, so why wouldn’t he try to throw in economy talking points?

Everything that was discussed in Monday’s debate was the same stuff we have heard over and over. We have heard Obama and Romney get into spats about their “revolutionary” and “bold” ideas for America’s foreign affairs time and time again. This debate did not help the undecided voters come closer to a decision.

Twelve days remain until the election, which is Nov. 6. At this point, the candidates will most likely only visit swing states, which include Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nevada.

For voters, the choice comes down to two very different candidates. On the economic front, the choice should be clear. The Obama administration has literally had over one trillion dollar deficits every year since being in office. Granted, Bush left an $800 billion deficit when he left office, but Obama increased that by $600 billion his first year. Over four years, his administration has allowed $5.170 trillion in deficits. Stretched out, that is $5,170,000,000,000 - that is a lot of zeros.

On foreign policy, no one can attack Romney for having zero experience because Obama was the same in 2008. America has a spending problem. The question is who will fix the problem: a man who has added trillions of dollars to the debt or a man who has spent his life in the business sector balancing budgets?

Inform yourself. Think about it. Vote on Nov. 6.

Rachel Beech writes:

Monday night’s final presidential debate was about as boring as watching paint dry. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama both agreed way too much, and I think they both failed to show their true colors.

America’s involvement with Libya, Iran, Syria and China were discussed between the candidates in their final attempt to gain votes from scores of undecided voters across the country, but the debate lacked the previous two debates’ fire.

Moderator Bob Schieffer failed to mention angles of foreign policy other than peacemaking with the Middle East. The debate was a failure in its entirety because many key issues were not addressed. Even though peacemaking is necessary, so are climate change and global efforts.

If solving the global crisis had been mentioned, conversation about creating jobs in the process of limiting carbon dioxide and putting more pressure on China could have been discussed. Drug policy? Immigration? Nada. It seems that Schieffer is out of the loop in regards to what is going on in America.

Just a week ago, the Keystone XL pipeline shut down to be investigated for a weakness, and I did not hear one thing about it Monday night. Who cares about another oil spill, right?

All confusing things considered, one thing finally made sense: Romney’s magical unicorn sparkle-poof Five Point Plan.

After finally getting a good grip on what Romney’s Five Point Plan meant, I decided to pay attention to the rest of the debate.

I thought it was a bit odd that Obama did not talk about how similar Romney’s plans are to those of Bush. Obama could have used the last debate as a chance to stand up to Mittens’ bologna a bit more.

After watching President Obama smile snidely at some of Romney’s BS, I thought the debate would finally start, but I was wrong. Key issues were missed, but one thing is certain.

The end of the debate showed the Obama and the Romney families conversing and being civil toward each other. Even though the cameras were on and every movement was being watched by the public eye, both families showed respect and graciousness toward the other.