Obama Wins Second Round; Libya Blunder Fatal for Romney

[It was an] extreme clash between the two candidates regarding taxes, work and energy. But the turning point came during a question about the massacre in Benghazi, when the Republican accused the president of not immediately making clear what happened. Obama exposed his lie.

Ultimately the polls all agreed: This time Obama won. The president showed up to the second televised debate with Mitt Romney fresh off the dry defeat of the first debate. This time he recovered his determination, responding to citizens’ questions in a more convincing way, with his opponent’s gaffe regarding the massacre in Benghazi allowing him to win in a way that, all in all, was simple. His opponent seemed much less convincing with respect to the first debate, often repeating his mantra “I know what it takes to get this economy going.” Obama got in some jokes on his end, commenting, for example, when speaking about pensions, “I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours.”

CNN journalist Candy Crowley moderated the debate, but it was American citizens who posed their questions to the men who are running for president. They obviously aimed to master questions not only about work, taxes and economics, but also about green energy, arms proliferation, immigration policies and the wage disparity between men and women.

“If the president were re-elected… this puts us on a road to Greece,” attacked Romney. “He only wants to lower taxes on the rich,” responded Obama, as he raised the issue of green energy policy while the Republican candidate responded by insisting on the necessity of protecting coal and oil producers and continuing to drill for oil. Regarding China, Romney, as anticipated, flexed his muscles, accusing the Asian country of playing outside the rules by being a “currency manipulator.” But Obama responded, “When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China and is currently investing in… companies that are building surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks.”

But it was when the conversation turned to Libya that the debate took a turn that would bring victory to Obama. A citizen brought up the attacks in Benghazi, and it was here that Obama reclaimed all his authority as president. “You don’t turn national security into a political issue,” he said, in response to attacks from Romney and the Republicans over the mishandling of the attacks in Libya (when Ambassador Stevens and three other American citizens were killed on Sept. 11). President Obama continued, “We are going to find out exactly what happened, everybody will be held accountable, and I am ultimately responsible for what’s taking place there.” Demonstrating all his indignation, he said, “Governor Romney put out a press release trying to make political points. And that’s not how a commander in chief operates… Secretary Clinton has done an extraordinary job. But she works for me. I’m the president. And I’m always responsible.”

It was here that Romney fell due to his blunder. Sure of being able to blame the president for his conduct, he began to say that “this was an attack by terrorists. And this calls into question the president’s whole policy in the Middle East.” But then he made a mistake: He began to stammer, his voice trembling, clearly struggling while he accused Barack Obama of lying regarding the massacre in Benghazi. “I think it’s interesting the president just said something which is that on the day after the attack, he went in the Rose Garden and said that this was an act of terror… 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.” But he made a mistake, and Obama quickly and calmly said, “Get the transcript.” And Candy Crowley, the moderator, said, “He did in fact, sir.”

After the debate about Benghazi, the face-to-face moved ahead calmly. Until the president’s final blow, when he recalled his rival’s gaffe about the 47 percent of Americans about whom, as he said in a “stolen” video, he did not care because they were parasites maintained by the government. At this point, Romney, who just before had said he cared about “100 percent of the American people,” was not able to respond because his time had run out. Time remained to hug their wives and to send an email from Obama to voters: “This race is neck and neck. Everything will be decided in the upcoming weeks. The outcome is in your hands. I will fight as hard as I can, but I cannot do it without you.”*

*Editor’s note: This quote could not be sourced.