Obama, Romney gear up

Both sides brace for crucial final debate on foreign policy

BOCA RATON (Florida): Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are spending the weekend hammering out their foreign policy battle lines ahead of their final debate, dropping off the campaign trail and dispatching their running mates to court voters in battleground states.

The debate, which focuses on international affairs, will be the final chance for each to lay out his policy platforms and engage in verbal jousting in front of tens of millions of TV viewers just 15 days before voters head to the polls.

With both sides conceding that the race to Nov 6 will go down to the wire, and amid a consensus that each candidate won one of the previous two debates, the stakes for today’s clash are enormous.

And just as they study up on the particulars of US policy about the

Nov 6, 2012

Middle East, China and Russia, the New York Times reported a possible breakthrough on talks with Iran – a report quickly squelched by the White House.

Citing unnamed administration officials, the Times reported that Iranian officials had agreed to direct US-Iran talks over Teheran’s nuclear programme, after years of secret talks between the two sides.

The Iranians insisted that such negotiations wait until after the US election, when they will know who the next president will be, the report said.

The White House swiftly denied any deal had been reached, saying it was still working on a “diplomatic solution”.

“It’s not true that the United States and Iran have agreed to one-on-one talks or any meeting after the American elections,” National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.

The Times story broke just as the two US candidates were hunkered down for debate prep.

Obama was gathering his team at Camp David, the remote presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, while Romney opted for a bit of sun, heading to a beach-side resort in debate site Boca Raton, Florida, where he is huddling with top strategists.

The challenger also took the opportunity to hit up wealthy donors one last time.

Romney attended his final fundraising event of the campaign on Saturday in Palm Beach.

Obama attended his final fundraiser earlier this month.

Obama’s team announced that the president will launch a two-day blitz beginning on Wednesday to six states – Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Virginia, and then Illinois, where he casts his early ballot in hometown Chicago.

Romney too will be visiting Colorado, Nevada and Ohio.