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Obama gears up for next presidential debate in New York

October 10, 2012 10:13 IST

Notwithstanding his lackluster performance in last week's debate in Denver, United States President Barack Obama is energised for his next debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney in New York next week, his close aide said.

"I think one of the biggest take-away perhaps from the first debate is what kind of a debater Mitt Romney is and the shaky relationship Mitt Romney has with the facts. And that certainly is something that the President will take into account as he is looking ahead to the next debate," Jen Psaki, Obama Campaign spokeswoman, told reporters on Tuesday while travelling with the President aboard Air Force One.

Obama will spend some time in advance of the debate preparing with his team for the second of the three presidential debates scheduled for October 16 at the Hofstra University Campus, Long Island in New York.

Obama has been pretty clear that he has looked back at his debate performance and looked back at the debate performance of Mitt Romney.

"At the same time, our focus and the President's focus has always been putting on blinders, implementing our ground game, implementing laying out for the American people the choice in this election. That's exactly what he is doing every single day," she said.

Psaki said Obama is often energised by not just crowds, but people he meets on the rope-line, and people that he even sees at events like the past couple of days.

"The truth is, most of those people are saying to him, we are with you; we want you to spend another four years; we are not worried about the reviews of the debate; we know that you are a better choice for us. And that's what he hears, and that keeps him energised looking ahead not just to the debate but to the next 28 days," she said.

The only vice presidential debate is scheduled to be held this week.

"The vice president's number-one priority going into the debate is communicating the choice to the American people. He will have the opportunity, of course, to talk about the contrast he has with Paul Ryan," Psaki said.

"We are not going to delve into specifics on strategy or what lines the vice president may go into. There's no more passionate advocate for the administration's approach to the last four years to the challenges the middle class is facing. We expect he will make the case for sending the President and himself back for another four years," she said.

Lalit K Jha
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