OBAMA, ROMNEY IN SECOND DEBATE SHOWDOWN

United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday night sought to redeem himself after a lackluster first debate encounter with his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

The 90-minute debate which was in a town hall-style setting was held at Hofstra University, New York. The two White House contenders took questions on domestic and foreign issues from an audience of about 80 undecided voters.

Obama was heavily criticized after his first debate on October 3 for appearing listless and ill-prepared against Romney, who was far more engaged and aggressive.

Obama lost the October 3 debate on style, and failed to even highlight issues thought to be Romney’s Achilles’ heel such as Romney’s business record at Bain Capital, the “47 per cent” video and his refusal to release more income tax returns.

After the last debate, Democrats questioned why Obama did not challenge Romney over his policies on tax, healthcare and jobs. They also complained that Obama had allowed the Republican to soften some of his most conservative stances.

The president’s poor showing led to a surge of support in voter opinion polls for his Republican rival, leaving both candidates locked in a virtual tie.

Romney, a wealthy former private equity executive, came to the debate with a higher bar of expectations and a burden of proving to voters that his strong showing two weeks ago was not a fluke. He took time off the campaign trail to prepare for the showdown, the second of three presidential debates.

Obama trying to repair damage from the last debate, had been largely out of sight since Saturday. He flew to the historic colonial-era city of Williamsburg, Virginia, where he camped for an intense debate preparation.

Vice-President Joe Biden had helped reawaken the depressed Democratic base last Thursday in his encounter with Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Paul Ryan when he overwhelmed his opponent with the kind of aggression that was lacking in Obama’s first encounter with Romney in Denver.

Meanwhile, foreign policy will be the focus of the third and final presidential debate scheduled for October 22 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

With less than three weeks to the election, Romney’s campaign have announced it had raised $170m in September. The Obama campaign also announced last week that it raised $181m for the same period.