Greensboro, NC -- Monday night's third debate topic was foreign policy. UNCG Associate Professor of Political Science Thom Little and UNCG Political Historian Omar Ali joined Frank Mickens to analyze the debate. They touched on why foreign policy is important enough to get its own debate. Little said in this election, foreign policy isn't at the top of most voters' minds, but its still important. "In the long-term strength of the nation, its a critical issue so it needs to be out there and put in the minds of the voters even though its not the front and foremost in their minds right now."
When asked if one candidate rose above the other at the end of the debate, Ali said, "I think that President Obama did have a stronger performance. Clearly, I think that he, he really did rise in a way we hadn't seen in serious debates." But Ali also pointed out that there were issues that neither candidate hasn't addressed yet, including poverty and the structure of how government is set up.
Little said, "I thought this was Obama's best performance by far. He was confident at the beginning, I think he got more confident as the debate went on. Romney, I thought got less confident. He was confident on the economic issues, but when he talked about the foreign policy, you could see him struggle a little bit and waiver a bit."
Both Ali and Little agreed that this debate wasn't nearly as combative as the previous two debates.
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