Obama, Romney both fired up in 2nd presidential debate

New York, NY, United States (4E) – President Barack Obama tried to regain momentum for his reelection bid during their second presidential debate with Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday, as both got into heated exchanges over jobs, energy and taxes.

Tuesday’s town hall-style debate was seen as one of the most combative debates in years with the two candidates circling each other, almost intruding into their respective personal space, and frequently interrupting each other.

The president, who was widely criticized for being “too polite” and seemingly disengaged during their first debate in Denver, watched his rival more intently this time around.

Analysts and Democrats alike observed that the president did not play safe in his exchanges with Romney, and even tackled topics that he failed to talk about in the previous debate.

Obama quickly got into tearing Romney’s record during the first question about jobs, blasting his opponent’s view of the auto bailout. Obama stated that Romney’s prescription of letting the three U.S. automakers go bankrupt would have cost millions of American jobs.

One of the evening’s tensest moments came when Obama admonished what he described as politicizing by his Republican opponent of the Sept. 11, 2012 attack of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed four Americans. He stated that his office claims full responsibility of the incident and any other American foreign policy, and berated Romney’s response to the White House’s actions following the tragedy.

Romney once again showed his skill and assertiveness during exchanges on the economy, reminding voters that the Obama administration failed to deliver on its promise to promote a strong economy in the last four years.

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