(VOVworld)- President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney met again in their second televised debate on Wednesday. The debate took place two weeks after the first one and focused on internal issues of the US. Public opinion polls show support for the two candidates extremely close making a prediction for the November 6 election very difficult.

The second debate was seen as tougher than the first one on October 4. The two candidates focused on economics, employment, energy, tax, immigration, gun control and foreign affairs. In this second debate, President Obama scored points at the beginning when he emphasized his achievement of generating 5.2 million jobs during his 4 years in power. He also touched upon issues that are close to Americans lives including tax reduction, support for women and health care. Romney took every opportunity to criticize the President on federal deficit and energy development policies. Romney said Obama’s ineffective economic policies have resulted in the unemployment of 20 million people and promised he would create 12 million jobs in the next four years if elected. The former governor asked the White House to admit responsibility for the current sluggish economy and sharp rise of the deficit. Obama accused his rival of misrepresenting his policies and reiterated that these policies have been effective. Obama said the Republican candidate was inconsistent, first opposing and then supporting coal exploration.

In regard to foreign policy, the two candidates focused on the murder of the US ambassador in Libya and trade relations with China. Romney criticized Obama’s failure to ensure security for US diplomats, his policies in the Middle east and his trade dealings with China which are now impacting US competitiveness. Meanwhile, Obama criticized Romney for not supporting US workers when he was Director of the Bain Capital Company.

The advantage Romney gained at the first debate two weeks ago made the second debate at Hofstra University in New York more dramatic. In this debate, President Obama had to do something to regain momentum after Romney surged past him in the polls. Analysts agreed that in this second debate, Obama gave a stronger performance and regained points with voters. The latest poll said 40% of the TV audiences thought Obama won the debate while 39% declared Romney the winner. 73% said Obama performed much better than expected and 37% said the same of Romney. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of 1,700 people, most American voters gave Romney higher points for his plan to reduce the budget deficit and strengthen foreign policy. The poll showed Romney narrowing the gap with Obama on Iran’s nuclear issue. Support for the two candidates in this regard is only 1% different, compared with 9% two weeks ago. Similarly, the difference has been reduced from 11% to 3% in regard to fighting terrorism. The poll showed that Obama leads Romney 41.5% to 39.1% on taxes and 40.9% to 37% on social security.

The final debate on foreign policy is scheduled for October 22. This will be the final chance for the two candidates to sway voters, especially those who are still undecided. Analysts say the race is still too close to call.

Anh Huyen