First takes on Obama-Romney debate give president the edge

In the high stakes debate between US President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney Tuesday night in New York, they both interrupted each other aggressively and exchanged personal jabs. Obama did not quite get the win he needed to reverse the momentum he lost to Romney in the first debate. Most US pundits agree that he fell short in responding to the charges of inadequate security and intelligence failure in the al Qaeda attack on the US consulate in Libya. However, Romney failed to drive this home for a knockout blow. Three weeks are left to the presidential election with the last presidential debate still to go.