Long before the candidates set foot on stage in Florida, President Barack Obama headed into the final debate of the 2012 campaign with the biggest advantage of all: he's already commander-in-chief. The foreign policy face-off on Monday was devoted to a subject on which presidents can speak about decision-making in the first person and challengers can't. As recently as a few weeks ago, coming off a rocky foreign summer tour and a widely panned response to the deadly September 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, Mitt Romney seemed headed for a tough night. But that was before the administration faced its own politically charged questions on the Libya assault over security and its response to what actually occurred and who may have been behind it.Barack Obama as president had a certain advantage on foreign policy in debateWinning debate key, but projecting strong leadership might be more importantLast chance for both candidates to make impression before captive audience
A question about _'s role in the world drew an answer about the U.S. unemployment rate. In CNN's post-debate poll, voters gave _ the edge on performance -- but that opinion didn't necessarily shift their votes.