Governor Romney failed to appear presidential on the most important issue for a president to appear presidential – national security. At the same time, President Obama was able to clear his record on the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Romney treid to claim that the president was ambivalent in his reaction to the consular attacks. In slamming Romney’s infamous post-consulate attack press release and tweets, President Obama reiterated, “When folks mess with Americans we go after them.” In fact, the President has often been criticized for his "kill list" and his use of drone strikes. Obama ended the discussion in an imperial manner when he took full responsibility for the deaths of the Americans in Libya as a function of his office – “I have to greet those coffins when they come home.” He later stated that "the suggestion that anyone in my team would play politics or mislead is offensive."

Romney was unable to respond effectively, grappling with non-sequiturs about Iran’s nuclear program and Obama’s “Apology Tour” – referring to the president’s speeches in the Arab world at the start of his presidency. The only legitimate claim Romney made was that the current instability in the Middle East is because of Obama's failed foreign policy. This is, of course, a political claim - considering that at the start of the Arab Spring, the media still maintained a high sense of optimism in regard to the prospect of democratization of the Arab world. Republican pundits and talking heads all claimed it had nothing to do with Obama, but was in fact a reflection on the success of president George W. Bush’s foreign policy – referring to the nation-building exercise in Iraq as the beacon of democracy that ignited the Arab spring.

Although a discussion did occur on the Middle East centered around the instability in Libya, it did not overlap with a discussion on energy policy and gas prices. While the energy discussion was a highlight of the debate, it painfully lacked reference to foreign policy implications. One cannot discuss the Middle East without discussing oil, and how the instability in the Middle East has affected the price of gas.

Obama’s administration has seen a reduction in reliance on foreign oil, but the fact remains that the U.S. still relies heavily on importing oil from, as Romney pointed out, the Middle East and Venezuela. Neither the President nor Romney addressed the issue as a foreign policy problem; they only addressed it as a domestic policy issue. I would be interested to see if the energy debate comes up again in the final debate, which will be centered on foreign policy.

 

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the 2012 Presidential Debate here.