( CNN ) -- All three presidential debates are now in the books and the race to the White House is taking its final shape . Looking back , the first debate was undoubtedly the watershed moment of this campaign and the most powerful inflection point in the race to date . President Obama regained some lost ground in the next two debates , including Monday night 's event , but the damage had already been done . Mitt Romney now carries the momentum into the home stretch . Like in the second debate , Obama came out Monday night more aggressive and more provocative . He threw more punches and landed more punches , centering his attacks on trying to characterize Romney 's foreign policy as amateur and reckless . But there was an air of desperation in his delivery . It was as if he knew he needed to not just defeat Romney , but to destroy him . He fell far short of that bar . Opinion : Obama in command ; Romney plays it safe . Obama was helped , however , by Romney 's peculiar pass on contesting Libya and the Benghazi catastrophe while also not taking Obama to task for the timetable and withdrawal from Afghanistan . Romney 's repeated agreement with Obama on issues like drone strikes and keeping U.S. forces out of Iran and Syria in any way may upset some conservatives . But we are at a different time and place in the foreign policy psyche of most Americans . The country is war-weary , wants the troops to come home and does n't want any form of intervention in another country . Romney had to reassure voters that he was not interested in nation-building and provoking or initiating foreign conflicts . He accomplished that very well . It was a different test for a different time for a Republican candidate . He distanced himself from President George W. Bush and offered his own vision for the Middle East . Or as he put it , the United States should `` help the - the world of Islam and other parts of the world , reject this radical violent extremism . '' Perhaps foreshadowing the last two weeks of the presidential race , Romney used the debate to move to the center . He emphasized peace and diplomacy and avoided at all costs any hint of sending U.S. forces to future wars . Romney also looked and acted presidential . He had a steady , levelheaded confidence and avoided any snarky , patronizing `` horses and bayonets '' moments . Obama used the final debate to go to the left and energize his base , attacking Romney at any opportunity while throwing in comments about teachers and classroom size -- a clear signal to his strong base with the teacher 's union . Obama offered little on his plans for a second term and spent much of the debate hammering Romney . Opinion : Was Obama too relentless with Romney ? That may be why some commentators think Romney acted and appeared more like the president and Obama the challenger . One of the central facets of the Obama campaign was to define Romney as an unacceptable candidate , which they did relentlessly in states like Ohio . Yet , Romney 's first debate performance shattered that image . And through the rest of the debates , he proved that he is not the man they said he was ; he is not a warmonger or greedy vulture capitalist . Now , Obama is racing to put the genie back in the bottle . The electoral map is shrinking for him while expanding for Romney . Paul Begala recently admitted the Obama campaign has given up on North Carolina . Meanwhile , GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan recently campaigned in Pennsylvania , a state once thought to be totally out of the reach of Romney and Ryan . According to RealClearPolitics.com 's electoral map , Wisconsin , Michigan and Pennsylvania are now toss-up states and North Carolina is leaning Romney . With the wind at this back , Romney can now consolidate his resources in the most crucial states -- Ohio , Virginia , Colorado and perhaps even Wisconsin and Pennsylvania . And with the foreign policy debate in the rear view mirror , he can get back to the economy -- his strongest issue and advantage over the president . Opinion : So , who 's going to win ? In the latest WSJ/NBC poll Romney has a six point advantage on which candidate is better at dealing with the economy , a seven point lead on jobs and unemployment and a whopping 13 point lead on fixing the deficit . Romney has the momentum . Barring any October surprise , he will likely keep the momentum . With less than two weeks to go , it may matter less what Romney and Obama say but where they say it . That will tell us all we need to know about how the campaigns feel heading into the home stretch . The opinions in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett .
William Bennett : President Obama was aggressive in final debate , but it may be too late . Bennett : Some pundits think Mitt Romney acted more presidential than Obama . He says the electoral map is shrinking for Obama while expanding for Romney . Bennett : Barring any surprises , Romney will likely keep the momentum .