Romney May Drop a Bombshell at the Presidential Debate

At the first electoral debate, which is this Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney needs to drop a bombshell: a surprise card that will suddenly shift to his favor the race’s momentum, which was formerly against him. According to surveys, Romney has already lost the election and does not have available to him any method or clear trick to reduce the advantage achieved by Barack Obama.

Even the economy — which at the beginning of this campaign was the Republican party’s almost exclusive argument for regaining the White House — is no longer favorable terrain for the opposition. Modest signs of recuperation, combined with confusion about the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan duo’s proposals, have eliminated the advantage that, until a while ago, the Republicans had in that field.

Today, Obama is also ahead in surveys that ask which candidate offers the best guarantees for the improvement of the economy or whom voters trust most to improve the present situation. With regard to taxes, the deficit and public spending — conservatives’ favorite issues — the electoral benefits for Romney now appear to be very slim.

Nevertheless, the economy will continue to be a star topic the night of the debate. Romney has to try to convince his compatriots that Obama has failed in these four years and hasn’t offered enough reasons for why he should be allowed four more. But Romney will probably also search for the miracle in some other terrain.

Foreign policy could be one of them. North American opinion about Obama’s foreign policy has been, until now, very positive. But judging by the polls, it has been hurt by the Sept. 11 attack against the North American consulate in Benghazi, in which the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, died.

Romney’s first reaction, which was to criticize the performance of the president, clearly went against him. But then a series of facts provided by the investigation introduced a contradiction with the first official version and has made it appear that the administration was somewhat weak in its management of this issue.

Until recently, the government maintained that the attack had been a spontaneous reaction against the movie about Muhammad. Even the U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, said so ten days ago. Later, the Secret Service provided facts that indicate a connection between the attack and terrorists groups linked to al-Qaeda cells that operate in the Northern Africa – perhaps al-Qaeda in the Maghreb itself, one of the most active sections of that grid.

The Wall Street Journal, which follows this so-called minuscule issue, mentioned on Tuesday the possibility that the attack was directed by an extremist who was freed from prison in Egypt during the country’s revolution.

In his defense, the Obama campaign said that the Republicans were attempting to politicize this situation for electoral reasons. But although this is true, so too is the fact that the president will arrive at the debate on Wednesday in Denver with a poorly defined position on a matter that is important for the security and foreign policy of the U.S.

However, the mere fact that they speculate about what the magic bullet could be is proof that Romney will tackle this debate in a desperate situation. His obligation to attack yet again places him before a script that doesn’t correspond to his character. Furthermore, he is faced with someone who isn’t easy to attack. Debates are not considered Obama’s specialty, but the president possesses a spirit that could be very useful on nights like these.