Obama campaign adjusts strategy

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had a spring in his step Thursday following the presidential debate in Denver. President Barack Obama retains a slight lead in the polls as he awaits Friday's job numbers.?

By Jeff Mason,?Reuters / October 4, 2012

President Barack Obama, right, greets Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney during the first presidential debate at the University of Denver, Wednesday in Denver.

AP Photo/David Goldman

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A day after a muted performance in a presidential debate, U.S. President?Barack?Obama fought back against Republican rival?Mitt Romney?on Thursday and the Democrat's re-election campaign vowed to learn lessons from the setback.

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A feisty?Obama told a rally of some 12,000 people that the former?Massachusetts?governor was untruthful during Wednesday's 90-minute debate in Denver, which most observers reckoned the Republican won.

"When I got onto the stage, I met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be?Mitt Romney,"?Obama said.

"But it couldn't have been?Mitt Romney, because the real?Mitt Romney?has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. The fellow on stage last night said he didn't know anything about that."

Often criticized for being wooden, Romney's aggressive debate performance gave his campaign a burst of energy after weeks of setbacks.

Looking at times tired and displeased,?Obama did not seize opportunities to attack the Republican on his business record at Bain Capital, the "47 percent" video and his refusal to release more income tax returns.

All this unfolded before a national television audience of 67.2 million, according to television ratings firm Nielsen, up 28 percent compared with the first presidential debate in 2008 between?Obama and Republican Senator?John McCain.

With two more presidential debates before the Nov. 6 election, senior aide?David Axelrod?said the?Obama campaign would adjust its strategy as a result of the debate.

"We are going to take a hard look at this and we are going to have to make some adjustments as to where to draw the lines in these debates and how to use our time," he told reporters.

Democratic sources said?Obama?raised more than $100 million in September in another sign of his financial strength going into the last month of the campaign.

Romney prepared for the Denver encounter with days of mock debates and was more ready to go on the offensive against?Obama in detailed discussion on taxes, jobs, energy and the budget deficit.

Obama is unlikely to add "huge amounts of additional prep time," for the two other debates, on Oct. 16 in New York and on Oct. 22 in?Florida, Axelrod said.

Part of the?Obama strategy will be to attack Romney for what the Democratic campaign says are untruthful statements during the debate on his tax plan,?Medicare?and deficit cutting, as well as pressing him on what appeared to be changes in position on issues like bank regulation.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/36nLGSs1F9w/Obama-campaign-adjusts-strategy

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