Washington: U.S. President Barack Obama and his
Republican rival, Mitt Romney, are all set to have a direct fight in the next
critical phase of the 2012 election season - the presidential debates.
The two candidates hold the first of their
three debates on Wednesday in Denver, the capital of the western state of
Colorado. Topics are set to include the
economy, health care and the role of government. Many say it is Romney who has the most to
prove.
With just a few days to go before the first
debate, President Obama focused his weekly address Saturday on one of its key
topics: the economy.
The president criticised Congress,
especially Republicans, for not acting on a plan that he says would save
homeowners thousands of dollars. "The truth is, it’s going to take a while
for our housing market to fully recover.
But it’s going to take a lot more time - and cause a lot more hurt - if
Congress keeps standing in the way," he said.
President Obama has himself faced criticism
for not doing enough to address the housing crisis. But he said in his address that the housing
market is "healing."
And that is not the only positive economic
news. Revised figures from the Labor Department
show the country has more people employed now than when President Obama took
office in January 2009.
The new numbers counter Romney’s claim that
the nation has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs under Obama.
The loss of the campaign weapon comes after
an already tough couple of weeks for the Republican candidate after a video
surfaced showing him telling wealthy supporters that 47 percent of voters
consider themselves "victims" entitled to government support.
Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for
former President George W. Bush's 2004 campaign, said on ABC News that the
debates are critical for Romney.
"The race right now is a five- or
six-point national decline on his part.
He's losing in all the electoral states.
He does not want to get in a situation where this goes past him, and he
can't catch up. He's got to do it on
October 3, and he has to do well. And I
think actually the race will close.
He'll show up and do reasonably well, but he has to do that," he
said.
Public opinion polls indicate President
Obama has a significant lead over the former Massachusetts governor in many of
the so-called swing states expected to decide the November 6 election.