The political class was still digesting the repercussions of the latest bitterly contested head-to-head, which included questions from undecided voters.
Romney running mate Paul Ryan stood by his man Wednesday, declaring on NBC News that Romney won because he “offered people a very concrete vision” about how he could get people back to work.
Vice President Joe Biden got in on the act too, describing Obama as “a man of courage.”
“That’s the man we got to see last night and I’m proud of him,” he told supporters in the swing state of Colorado.
Ad hoc polls from major broadcasters gave Obama the edge, while analysts agreed that the Romney surge had hit a speed bump, leaving the race closely matched.
“The Republicans will be disappointed that Romney didn’t put him away, and the Democrats will be reassured that the president is in full press now,” said Linda Fowler, a government professor at Dartmouth College.
In one spellbinding exchange, Obama glared at Romney and rebuked him over his criticism of the White House’s handling of a September 11 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya which killed four Americans.
“The suggestion that anybody on my team… would play politics or mislead when we’ve lost four of our own, governor, is offensive,” Obama said, wagging his finger at Romney.
Romney’s strongest moments came when he delivered indictments of the Obama economy, charging the president with failing to rein in stubbornly high unemployment or cut ballooning deficits.