US election: Obama and Romney face-off in presidential debate

After months of talking about each other and their policies, Democratic incumbent, Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, went toe-to-toe on the same stage in a series of three televised debates on Wednesday ahead of the November 6 US election.

Despite their heated competition for the presidency, Obama and Romney have little personal relationship, and have rarely met in-person with one another.

 

On Wednesday night, the two White House contenders spent 90 minutes at the University of Denver in Colorado sparring over domestic policy in the debate that can alter the direction of the presidential contest.

 

History has it that former US president, John F. Kennedy won the the first televised debate in 1960. At the end, the debate turned out to be decisive with the Republican candidate, Ronald Reagen losing the election.

 

The debate at the University of Denver was the first time voters across the US had the chance to see Obama and Romney on stage together.

 

Although unemployment has remained high during Obama’s first term in office – over eight per cent for 43 straight months – many voters seem willing to accept his argument that he inherited a bad economy from his predecessor, George W Bush.

 

Romney has struggled in the polls since a secretly filmed recording emerged of him telling a private fundraising event that the 47 per cent of Americans who did not pay income tax viewed themselves as “victims” and were dependent on government help.

 

The upcoming election in November appears to be the most important for the US in years. The outcome will have a meaningful influence on the future business and regulatory environment for a variety of industries including the energy , defence, health care and utilities sectors.

 

Romney’s campaign is based around his belief that Obama’s stewardship of the US economy has been a dismal failure.

 

He points to an enduringly high unemployment rate and poor job growth, and says his experience in business will turn the US economy around.

 

Obama, by contrast, says his opponent offers little except a rehashing of the “failed” Republican policies that caused the economic crash of 2008.

 

The two candidates will meet again in the second and third debates, scheduled for October 16 in New York and October 22 in Florida.

 

Incumbent Vice President Joe Biden and Republican running mate Paul Ryan will face one another in the sole vice presidential debate in Kentucky on October 11.