Romney's Options

Published in La Vanguardia
(Spain) on 24 October 2012
by José Antich (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Pedro Garcés Satué. Edited by Lauren Gerken .
The three televised debates between Obama and Romney are over. There are two weeks left before the presidential election in the United States and it seems that the election on Nov. 6 will be more hotly contested than was expected in early October, when the first debate took place in Denver.

During the past three weeks, Romney has managed to appear as a solid candidate before the American public; he has been able to provide answers to economic problems and has been moderately centrist. Whether or not this is enough, we will know on Nov. 6, but Obama should be worried. Less than two weeks before the election, polls forecast a statistical tie between the Democrat and Republican, although most people believe Obama will remain in the White House. This is largely because the president has lost much of his charisma among important groups within the electorate, but Republicans still believe that Obama is more attractive to voters.

The third debate, which took place early this morning in Boca Raton, was focused on foreign policy. We could not help but notice that European issues did not carry much weight in international politics, as no mention of the Old Continent was made during the debate. Iran, Israel, China, Pakistan and Syria were mentioned because, with the exception of China, they are strategic areas from the point of view of a military conflict. However, elections in the United States are always decided based on the economy and the prospects for overcoming the crisis. And recently, Obama has received more good news than bad.


REALIZADOS los tres debates televisados entre Obama y Romney, y cuando faltan menos de dos semanas para las elecciones presidenciales en Estados Unidos, todo apunta a que los comicios del próximo 6 de noviembre van a ser más reñidos de lo que podía sospecharse a principios de octubre en Denver, cuando tuvo lugar el primer cara a cara. En estas tres semanas, Romney ha conseguido aparecer ante la opinión pública norteamericana como un candidato sólido, capaz de ofrecer respuestas a los problemas económicos y moderadamente centrista. Suficiente o no, se verá el día 6, pero Obama tiene motivos para estar preocupado. Las encuestas a menos de dos semanas arrojan un empate técnico entre demócratas y republicanos, aunque son muchos más los que creen que Obama continuará en la Casa Blanca. En buena medida se debe a que el presidente ha perdido una gran parte de su carisma entre importantes franjas de su electorado, pero en el bando republicano está muy instalada la idea de que la fuerza de atracción de Obama es superior. El tercer cara a cara de la pasada madrugada en Boca Ratón, muy centrado en la política exterior, constató el escaso peso europeo en la política internacional, que se reflejó en la ausencia de menciones al Viejo Continente durante el debate. Irán, Israel, China, Pakistán o Siria protagonizaron una parte importante de este, seguramente porque, excepto China, son zonas estratégicas desde el punto de vista de un conflicto militar. Pero las elecciones en Estados Unidos las acaban decidiendo siempre la economía y las perspectivas para salir de la crisis. Y ahí Obama ha tenido en los últimos tiempos más buenas que malas noticias.
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