With two weeks until the election, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney are making a final appeal to voters who still have not made up their minds.
Polls show the presidential race tied, and winning support of uncommitted voters, especially in so-called swing states, is crucial.
During a rally Tuesday in Florida, one of those states that could decide the election, President Obama accused Mr. Romney of changing his mind on major issues, including the operation to kill Osama bin Laden. He called Mr. Romney's Monday night debate performance a “severe outbreak” of “Romnesia” .
Mr. Romney told a crowd of supporters in Las Vegas, Nevada that attacks on him are not a political agenda. He said after four debates, including one vice presidential debate, the Obama campaign is “taking on water” while his campaign has been energized by the debate and is “full steam ahead.”
Both campaigns claim their candidate won Monday night's debate, which focused on foreign policy. But some major opinion polls say President Obama was the winner.
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
“During the debate, he said he didn't want more troops in Iraq, but he was caught on video saying it was unthinkable not to leave 20,000 troops in Iraq, troops that would still be there today. Last night, he claimed to support my plan to end the war in Afghanistan. I'm glad he supports it, but he's opposed to a timeline that would actually bring our troops home. Early in this campaign, he said he'd do the opposite of whatever I did in Israel, but last night I reminded him that cooperation with Israel has never been stronger. (applause) Last night, he said he always supported taking out Osama bin Laden, but in 2007, he said it wasn't worth 'moving heaven and earth' to catch one man. Now, we've come up with a name for this condition. It's called Romnesia. ”
MITT ROMNEY:
“We can handle two more weeks of the attacks coming from Barack Obama, but we cannot handle four more years of what he's given us. I mean, can you handle four more years of 23 million Americans looking for a good job? Can you afford four more years of housing prices going down and hitting bottom? Would you like to have four more years of the doubling of the gasoline prices you're paying?”