2 Minutes With David Corn: The Foreign Policy Debate

On Monday night, President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will face off on foreign policy. Some pundits say that the election is so close, the outcome could very well pivot on this debate, where the candidates will grapple over issues like the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. But according to Mother Jones Washington Bureau Chief David Corn, Obama’s strong advantage on foreign policy probably won’t move voters one way or the other: 

Here’s an excerpt:

As we get closer to the election there are a lot fewer undecided voters. So there’s less room to move [and] fewer people to persuade. This is now the third debate. In some ways you could see it as the rubber match. Mitt Romney did quite well in the first one, Barack Obama did better than Romney in the second one. But I don’t think people are looking at this like a play-off series, 2 out of 3 wins the day.  I think each candidate has given their supporters what they needed to give them in the first two debates, and [because] the third one is about foreign policy, supposedly exclusively, [it’s] going to be something that may not move a lot of voters who have yet to be moved.

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OUR DEADLINE MATH PROBLEM

It’s risky, but also unavoidable: A full one-third of the dollars that we need to pay for the journalism you rely on has to get raised in December. A good December means our newsroom is fully staffed, well-resourced, and on the beat. A bad one portends budget trouble and hard choices.

The December 31 deadline is drawing nearer, and if we’re going to have any chance of making our goal, we need those of you who’ve never pitched in before to join the ranks of MoJo donors.

We simply can’t afford to come up short. There is no cushion in our razor-thin budget—no backup, no alternative sources of revenue to balance our books. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the fierce journalism we do. That’s why we need you to show up for us right now.

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