A much more aggressive President Barack Obama showed up to the second
presidential debate Tuesday, which at times devolved into angry crosstalk with
Republican rival Mitt Romney.
President Obama was under pressure to perform dramatically better at this
debate—held at Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y.—than the one held two
weeks ago. Gov. Romney's energetic performance at that first debate quickly
boosted him in the polls, with some recent measures showing he and the
president in a virtual tie among likely voters.
Romney kept up his Denver demeanor, attacking Obama on his jobs record,
failure to pass immigration reform, policies in the Middle East, and other
issues. But this time, instead of simply repeating portions of his stump
speech, Obama was ready with specific retorts and counter-attacks. The
president frequently accused Romney of twisting facts, occasionally
interrupting him as he spoke.
At one point, the debate almost became a shouting match over whether
President Obama had cut back oil extraction from public lands. Obama repeatedly
said Romney was lying about his claim that oil production was down, pointedly
saying, "Not true, Governor Romney." (Politifact ranked a
similar claim by a conservative super PAC "half true.") Feeling
the heat, moderator Candy Crowley took the candidates to another topic.
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