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The stage is set for the final presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida/AFP

World

Romney, Obama go global in last debate

Romney won the first debate after a lethargic performance from Obama, but the president’s feisty showing on Long Island, New York last week meant he emerged with honor restored, leaving the third debate as a tie-breaker of sorts.

Both foes toured Monday’s venue at Lynn University, where they will sit at a table with moderator Bob Schieffer, a veteran CBS news anchor, in a set-up that will rule out the predatory prowling seen during their second town hall-style debate.

Sticking to a winning formula from the second debate, Obama and his wife Michelle dined on steak and potatoes. Romney earlier lunched on a veggie burger, with Cajun fries washed down with a vanilla shake.

Romney will likely make a new attempt to trip Obama over his administration’s shifting stories on the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya on September 11 that killed four Americans.

The Republican has squandered several chances to jump Obama on the issue, after a hasty statement early in the crisis and a stumble in the last debate over the president’s characterization of events in Benghazi.

Republicans claim Obama was reluctant to admit the attack was an act of terrorism, fearing an Al-Qaeda comeback would knock him off his pedestal as the commander-in-chief who had put the militants on the run.

Top Obama aides at first said the attack was a spontaneous act that arose out of anger at an anti-Muslim video.

Later assessments blamed heavily armed militants, but officials say the incident still seems more opportunistic than pre-planned.

Reports in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times may have given Obama some breathing room Monday, finding top aides based their early conclusions on the attack on CIA talking points and not on political spin.

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The president is expected to remind Americans he kept his promise to end the Iraq war, is getting troops out of Afghanistan and ordered the raid that killed Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Both camps say their candidates will draw discussion back to the issue most pressing for voters — the economy.

The Republican will seek to pressure Obama over Iran’s nuclear program, arguing that presidential weakness has emboldened Tehran.

Complicating one of the main topics on the eve of the debate, The New York Times said US officials believed Iran was ready for one-on-one talks with Washington, though the White House denied the report.

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