President Barack Obama suggested he'll be able to achieve a major fiscal reform deal as well as comprehensive immigration reform in his second term, according to his off-the-record conversation with the Des Moines Register.

The White House reversed course on insisting that the president's conversation on Tuesday with the editor and the publisher of the Iowa paper remain off-the-record and allowed the paper to publish a transcript of the conversation.

Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama chats with well-wishers October 24, 2012 upon arrival at Quad Cities International Airport in Moline, Illinois.

In the conversation, the president asserted he would be able to get to some unfinished business from his first term if he's elected to a second, while simultaneously arguing that Republican nominee Mitt Romney would have a difficult time meeting all of his commitments.

"It will probably be messy. It won’t be pleasant. But I am absolutely confident that we can get what is the equivalent of the grand bargain that essentially I’ve been offering to the Republicans for a very long time," Obama told the Iowa paper of the upcoming "fiscal cliff," which Obama said he expected to dominate the first six months of next year.

The fiscal cliff refers to the combination of automatic spending cuts -- particularly to the defense budget -- and tax hikes set to take place on Jan. 1, barring action by Congress. The fiscal cliff is largely the byproduct of legislative stalemate over the past two years, and economists generally agree their combined effect would be disastrous for the U.S. economy.

Obama suggested his grand bargain would offer "$2.50 worth of cuts for every dollar in spending," which he said "credibly" fits within the parameters of the bipartisan, Simpson-Bowles fiscal commission Obama had organized but whose recommendations the president declined to endorse.

The president also suggested immigration reform might come more easily during the next four years, precisely because of the rhetoric Romney and other Republicans had used on the issue.

Obama said:

The second thing I’m confident we’ll get done next year is immigration reform. And since this is off the record, I will just be very blunt. Should I win a second term, a big reason I will win a second term is because the Republican nominee and the Republican Party have so alienated the fastest-growing demographic group in the country, the Latino community. And this is a relatively new phenomenon. George Bush and Karl Rove were smart enough to understand the changing nature of America. And so I am fairly confident that they’re going to have a deep interest in getting that done. And I want to get it done because it’s the right thing to do and I've cared about this ever since I ran back in 2008.

Romney had run to the right of his challengers on the issue of immigration during this year's Republican primary, which contributed to the 45-point deficit versus Obama among Latino voters from which Romney now suffers. The GOP nominee has sought to stoke Latino disappointment in Obama's failure to achieve comprehensive immigration reform, and Romney has vowed to seek immigration reform during his first year, if elected. But Romney hasn't specified the contours of his immigration proposals.

Obama also argued to the Des Moines Register that Romney would have a tough time even reaching those proposals, since he'd be forced to reckon with politically bloody battles over repealing Obama's health reform or Wall Street reform laws, and would almost certainly have to propose a variation of the fiscally conservative budgets authored by his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan.

Obama said:

And the problem you’ve seen in this campaign is he’s made commitments -- his first day he’s got to introduce a bill to repeal Obamacare. And that's a commitment he cannot back off of. That is a huge, messy fight. His first day in office, he has to make some commitments in rolling back things like the Consumer Finance Protection Board we put in place on Wall Street reform. His budget -- the Ryan budget -- there’s no way that, if he’s president, he can avoid having a showdown on a budget that his running mate introduced, or a variation of it, because he’s committed to cutting spending by 20 percent across the board on discretionary and increasing defense spending by $2 trillion.

The Des Moines Register, one of the most influential papers in Iowa, a battleground state worth six electoral votes on Nov. 6, will publish its endorsement on Saturday evening.

Obama and Romney embark on battleground blitz… First Read’s Electoral College scenario of the day: How Obama could get to 270 without Ohio… Mourdock pulls an Akin?... Why Mourdock could matter to Romney… Obama and that second-term agenda… Des Moines Register editorial chides Obama’s off-the-record conversation… And Quinnipiac poll shows McMahon trailing by six in Connecticut.

*** Battleground blitz: If you want to know where the presidential campaign is being fought, just look at all the candidate travel. Yesterday, President Obama hit Florida and Ohio. And today, beginning his whirlwind tour on Air Force One, he heads to Iowa, Colorado, and Nevada. Meanwhile, Romney yesterday was in Nevada and Colorado. And today, he returns to Nevada before heading to Iowa. And all of this occurring with 13 days until Election Day (a little over 300 hours until the first polls close, but who’s counting). By the way, as we mentioned earlier, NBC’s Brian Williams will be accompanying Obama on his battleground-state blitz.

*** Electoral College scenario of the day: Between now and election day, we’re going to delve into the various scenarios which are semi-realistic. Today’s: Obama could still lose Ohio and get to 270 electoral votes, and the path is not a nutty path. He does it by winning Wisconsin (a state that hasn’t gone GOP since 84), Iowa (a state Gore carried), New Hampshire (a state Kerry carried), and Colorado. That gets him to 272. Sorta stunning that with all of our focus on FL-OH-VA that they all three could get rendered meaningless by the Rodney Dangerfield of the battleground: Colorado. And this is why, despite some national polls showing Romney either tied or slightly ahead, the narrative has never held that Obama is behind – due to all of his different paths to 270.  And isn’t it inevitable that it’s a NEW state that keeps us up, not an old one? In the last three presidential campaign cycles, we in the media have looked backwards at an old battle for a swing state, and it ends up being a new state that becomes THE story. In 2000, it was Florida (which no one believed before October). In 2004, it was Ohio (again, no one believed it until October). In 2008, it was Virginia (which ended up reflecting the national vote). So why not Colorado in 2012? And keep an eye on Maine, too: The pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future is up with a TV ad in the state trying to win the state’s one EV in the 2^nd congressional district.

*** Mourdock pulls an Akin? This isn’t a story the Romney campaign wants to see just 13 days before Election Day. Just days after Romney endorsed and cut a TV ad for Richard Mourdock, the GOP nominee in Indiana’s competitive Senate contest, Mourdock walked into controversy on rape and abortion. Describing his opposition to abortion – even in cases of rape – Mourdock said at a debate: "I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." Despite that recent endorsement, the Romney campaign distanced itself from Mourdock’s remarks. "Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views." And even Mourdock walked back what he said at the debate. "God creates life, and that was my point,” he said in a statement. “God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that He does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick."

*** Why Mourdock could matter to Romney: Even though the Romney camp quickly distanced itself from Mourdock’s remarks, the story could matter to Romney. Why? Because just as Romney is trying to move to the middle -- on domestic policy, foreign policy, and social issues -- the Mourdock story is a reminder how the conservative bent of this Republican Party has been a drag on Romney. While Romney’s fav/unfav inched up in our latest NBC/WSJ poll to 43%-44%, the GOP’s own fav/unfav is at 36%-43% (compared with the Democratic Party’s 42%-40% score). It’s been the under-reported story of this campaign. So this becomes a fundamental question for Romney: Can he win over voters in the middle, even if these same folks have reservations about the party he now leads? Consider how the party will react if Romney loses; they’ll blame him for all sorts of things. But if Romney loses, it’ll likely be because Obama over-performed with Hispanics and women. Will that be Romney’s fault, or will blame lie with the perception of the party?

*** Obama and a second-term agenda: And here’s a fundamental question for Obama: How does he convince the public he has a second-term agenda with less than less than two weeks before election day? Yesterday, the campaign unveiled a new booklet outlining that agenda, and Obama held it up as he campaigned yesterday. (A little hiccup: Per NBC’s Ali Weinberg, the booklets, as of yesterday, had arrived only in Florida, where Obama was yesterday. They were not available at his Ohio rally!!) Here’s the irony in all of this discussion about Obama’s second-term agenda: He definitely has one;  in fact, it was the subject of most of his convention speech in Charlotte (100,000 new teachers, investment in infrastructure, tax breaks to families that create U.S. jobs, tax cuts to middle-class families, balanced deficit reduction). But because much of his campaign has been oriented to hitting Romney, there is the impression that Obama doesn’t have a second-term agenda. And that is something the Obama camp is trying to fix. But it’s clear the Obama campaign didn’t expect Romney to fix his image as fast as he did with that first debate because the pivot by the campaign from disqualifying Romney to re-qualifying Obama has been, um, sluggish.

*** Des Moines Register chides Obama’s off-the-record conversation: Meanwhile, the editor of the Des Moines Register, NBC’s Carrie Dann flags, wrote an editorial about a private, off-the-record phone conversation Obama had with the editor and publisher -- in an effort to win the paper’s endorsement. In the editorial, the editor chides Team Obama for not making the conversation on the record. “The conference call lasted nearly 30 minutes and was an incredibly informative exchange of questions, answers and an insightful glimpse into the president’s vision for a second term… Just two weeks before Election Day, the discussion, I believe, would have been valuable to all voters, but especially those in Iowa and around the country who have yet to decide between the incumbent Democrat and his Republican opponent.”  The paper makes its endorsement on Saturday night.

*** On the trail: Obama campaigns in Davenport, IA at 11:10 am ET, in Denver, CO at 4:55 pm ET, and Las Vegas at 12:35 am ET… Romney stumps in Reno, NV at 2:45 pm ET and in Cedar Rapids, IA at 8:00 pm ET… Biden hits Marion, OH… Ryan makes a stop in Cleveland, OH… And Ann Romney visits Florida.

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Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama speak in Ohio, Sept. 26, 2012.

*** Down the ballot: Meanwhile, looking down the ballot, a new Quinnipiac poll shows Chris Murphy leading Linda McMahon in Connecticut by six points among likely voters, 49%-43%... And Politico writes that the pro-Senate Democrat Super PAC Majority PAC is going up in Indiana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania. Yes, Pennsylvania, that’s right; Casey in more trouble than perhaps folks realized? The Republican there is a self-funder and has been relentless.

Countdown to Election Day: 13 days

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*** Wednesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Rep. Karen Bass; Nia-Malika Henderson & Ron Fournier; Steve Elmendorf & Robert Traynham; Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz on the Rust Belt v. the Sun Belt; and Variety’s Ted Johnson on the Politics of Late Night TV.

*** Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks with OH State Senator Nina Turner, CA Congresswoman Jackie Speier and political analyst Larry Sabato.  Today’s Power Panel includes TheGrio’s Perry Bacon, Republican Strategist Alice Stewart and The Nation’s Ari Melber.

*** Wednesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Jared Bernstein, Demos Vice President Heather McGhee, Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson, and NBC News’ Luke Russert.

*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, Republican strategist John Feehery, former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), and Teamsters President James Hoffa.

*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews former Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm, MSNBC Contributor Michael Smerconish, conservative radio talk show host Steve Deace, Democratic strategist Keith Boykin,  Daily Beast contributor Zachary Karabell, The Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson, and Newsweek & The Daily Beast Special Correspondent Michael Tomasky.

Latest polls: VA: An Old Dominion University live-caller poll, taken over a MONTH from September to mid-October shows Obama up 50-43%, but those topline results don’t reflect current reality. In the poll, the third of respondents interviewed AFTER the first debate showed a marked shift toward Romney.
The third and final presidential debate drew 59.2 million viewers, beating out football and the deciding game of NL playoffs.

Your First Read team moved Nevada to Lean Obama yesterday, and an adviser to the Republican governor of Nevada says Obama will win the key Western state. (Another adviser said he disagreed.)

Charlie Cook digs in on the importance of Ohio and Romney’s narrow path: “If Obama carries Ohio and Wisconsin, where he is ahead in most polling, he gets the 270 with one electoral vote to spare, so Romney could sweep Colorado, Florida, Iowa, and New Hampshire and still come up short. No matter how you cut it, Ohio is the pivotal state, and it isn't just the history of having gone with every winner from 1964 on and with no Republican ever capturing the White House without it."

“Locked in a stubbornly tight race, President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney are demonstrating the urgency of the campaign’s final stretch, with the incumbent alone set to cover 5,300 miles in the busiest single day of his re-election bid. Both men claimed a growing edge even as voters showed little give,” AP writes. “From Colorado to Iowa to ever-important Ohio, bigger crowds and late October scenery offered the feel of a campaign starting to finally crackle.”

USA Today’s Jackson: “The Obama-Romney race looks very close, especially in the Electoral College, and any issue could tip it one way or another. Who do the voters trust? The answer could determine the presidency.”

In Colorado at Red Rocks yesterday, here’s Romney: “You see, the president’s status quo campaign, going forward with the same ideas as we’ve seen over the last four years, is why he’s slipping. And it’s why our campaign is gaining. It’s why this movement is growing across this country. … What you’re seeing from the Obama campaign is an incredibly shrinking campaign. The president, he’s out of ideas, he’s out of excuses, and in November you’re going to make sure he’s out of office.”

AP’s Hunt: “Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday rallied thousands of supporters at the majestic Red Rocks Amphitheatre, casting his bid as a candidacy on the upswing and saying Democratic President Barack Obama’s bid is waning.”

About those “tuition-free rides”… “Mitt Romney spoke with pride during Monday’s presidential debate about a scholarship program that offers high-achieving Bay State students ‘a four-year, tuition-free ride at any Massachusetts public institution of higher learning,’ but the awards cover only a fraction of students’ total costs and most recipients turn them down,” the Boston Globe writes. “And while Romney said the scholarships go to students who rank in the top quarter of their high school classes, his original proposal would have awarded scholarships to students who scored in the top 25 percent statewide on the MCAS -- a criterion that favored white, suburban students. President Obama challenged Romney’s claim to be responsible for the scholarships, saying ‘that happened before you came into office.’ In fact, the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship was Romney’s idea. He unveiled the program during his State of the State address in January 2004, and the first awards went to high school graduates in 2005.”

Though Romney undoubtedly deserves the credit for introducing the scholarship program, the awards are not as generous as the phrase “tuition-free ride” suggests.

“After being hit for weeks by Mitt Romney for lacking specificity on what his second term would look like, President Obama is touting his plans with a new glossy booklet titled ‘The New Economic Patriotism: A Plan for Jobs & Middle Class Security,’” USA Today writes. “Copies of the booklet were distributed to reporters before Obama's post-debate rally here. The booklet distills his plans to bolster the manufacturing sector, hire 100,000 math and science teachers and cut the deficit by $4 trillion.”

On the day Obama released the glossy, 20-page booklet which he says is his plan for a second term here’s Obama in Florida on Romney: “We had a severe outbreak last night. It was at least stage 3 Romnesia. And I just want to go over with you some of the symptoms, Delray, because I want to make sure no one in the surrounding area catches it. … “If you talk about how much you love teachers during a debate,” Obama added, “but said just a few weeks ago that we shouldn’t hire any more because they won’t grow the economy, what do you have?”

Reuters: “Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show. The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks. The brief emails also show how U.S. diplomats described the attack, even as it was still under way, to Washington.”

President Obama made an off-the-record call to the Des Moines Register. The paper went public – not with the details of the call – but that it happened and urged the president and his campaign to give an on-the-record meeting or call ahead of its endorsement Saturday. Romney met with the paper’s editorial board Oct. 9. It wrote an email to the campaign that said: “What the President shared with us this morning — and the manner, depth and quality of his presentation – would have been well-received by not only his base, but also undecideds. From a voter standpoint, keeping it off-the-record was a disservice.” It added in the editorial today: “It’s important that I emphasize the White House’s decision won’t play a factor in our board’s final endorsement decision. That would be petty and ridiculous. We take far too seriously what’s at stake this election and what our endorsement should say.”

The paper, though, didn’t go public with the behind-the-scenes wooing in the run up to the Democratic and Republican primaries, including this from the New York Times Dec. 15, 2007: “The other day, as his sport utility vehicle idled outside, former President Bill Clinton held forth on a sofa in the publisher’s suite at The Des Moines Register, explaining why he believed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton should win the newspaper’s coveted endorsement. Only nine days earlier, the Clintons had played host to a few top editors for drinks and appetizers at one of Des Moines’s fashionable new restaurants. But on this visit, Mr. Clinton was the closer in the exhaustive campaign of persuasion. Even after an hour he had not made his full case to Laura Hollingsworth, the new publisher, so he called back later in the day.” Hollingsworth, however, is the one who played a tape recording of Bill Clinton calling to woo their endorsement for reporters.

“President Obama’s assertion during the final debate that additional defense spending cuts ‘will not happen’ prompted criticism and skepticism from Republicans who said on Tuesday that Obama’s confidence is not backed up by presidential leadership,” the Boston Globe writes. “ ‘If the sequester isn’t going to happen, as he says, will the president finally offer a plan to solve the problem?’ Kevin Smith, a spokesman for speaker of the House John A. Boehner, said in an interview with Reuters. ‘For the past year, the president has refused to show any leadership in resolving the sequester he proposed, so forgive us if we have doubts about his newfound desire to tackle the issue.’”

Obama advisers later walked back the definitiveness of Obama’s statement: David Plouffe in the spin room: “everyone in Washington agrees that sequester should not happen.”

He’ll be on MTV Friday at 5:00 pm ET. Young voters, 18-29, have lagged behind their 2008 enthusiasm levels and are far below the intensity of other age groups and demographics this election. Obama’s campaign is acutely aware that, if in a close election, if this key pillar to his electoral success doesn’t show up in big enough numbers, he could very well lose.

CONNECTICUT: Rep. Chris Murphy (D) leads Republican Linda McMahon (R) in the open race for the Senate 49-43% in the latest Quinnipiac poll.

HAWAII: The Mazie Hirono campaign is up with a new TV ad responding to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce attacks on them.

INDIANA: Richard Mourdock (R) at a debate yesterday for the crucial Senate race in Indiana: “I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.”

Mourdock’s post-debate statement: "God creates life, and that was my point. God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that He does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick.”

Mourdock in a post-debate press conference: “I mean God is the only one who can create life. Are you trying to suggest that somehow I think God ordained or pre-ordained rape? No I don't believe that. Anyone who would suggest that is, that's a sick and twisted; no, no that's not even close to what I said. What I said is God creates life.”

Lead of the Indianapolis Star: “Republican Richard Mourdock ignited a controversy over rape and abortion in Tuesday’s final Senate debate that lit up the internet and prompted GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney to disavow his words.” More: “And by 10:30 p.m., Romney’s campaign was rejecting the words, if not the candidate. ‘Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock’s comments, and they do not reflect his views,’ said Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for Romney’s campaign.”

MSNBC’s Michael LaRosa has more on yesterday’s Mourdock-Donnelly debate: “Both men stuck to familiar and often repeated lines of attack on their opponent.  Mourdock painted Donnelly as a status-quo politician, a lackey of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, who compromised his principles in support of the president's health-care law, which Mourdock called the greatest intrusion on American liberty.

Donnelly cast Mourdock as a partisan extremist unwilling to compromise and work across the aisle if sent to Washington.  Donnelly fashioned himself as a bipartisan moderate in the mold of Indiana's popular senior Senator Richard Lugar, whom Mourdock defeated last May.  The two-term congressman frequently mentioned Lugar's name and their work to save Indiana's auto industry.   Donnelly mentioned Lugar five times in last night's final confrontation with Mourdock.

HENDERSON, NV-- Mitt Romney fired up supporters here today, telling them the presidential debates have "supercharged" his campaign and arguing that President Obama's strategy of attacking Romney rather than outlining a second term agenda is backfiring.

"My guess is you have the chance to watch that debate last night, maybe a couple of debates," Romney said, in his first public appearance since Monday's third and final presidential debate. "And these debates have supercharged our campaign, there's no question about it. We're seeing more and more enthusiasm, more and more support."

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

Republican pesidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a campaign rally in Henderson, Nevada, October 23, 2012.

As both campaigns jockeyed today to claim victory in the final debate, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan both told a crowd of some 6,000 supporters at their first of two joint rallies of the day that momentum was on their side.

"I had to look at the president's campaign as well, through the eyes of those debates and well you know he's ah, he's been reduced to try to defend characters on Sesame Street and ah, word games of various kinds, and then misfired attacks after one another," Romney said. "You know the truth is that attacks on me are not an agenda."

"What we saw last night was Mitt Romney being concerned about America’s position in the world and President Obama more concerned about his position in this race,” Ryan said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Obama campaign pushed back on claims that the president lacks a second-term agenda, publishing a 20-page pamphlet that Obama himself brandished at a campaign event in Florida this morning. Romney campaign senior adviser Kevin Madden dismissed the pamphlet as a "glossy panic button," and Romney too brushed off Obama's plans as more of the same.

"His is a status-quo candidacy. His is a message of going forward with the same policies of the last four years. And that’s why his campaign is slipping and ours is gaining so much steam," Romney said.

With just 14 days to go before Election Day, the VP nominee helped fire up the base as well in the rally outside of Las Vegas.

“And in 2 weeks from today, he is going to become former President Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney is going to be the next president of the United States,” Ryan said.

The Obama campaign fired back after the rally, calling Romney "dour, defensive and dishonest," and insisting it was Romney who stumbled in last night's debate, and who "failed to present any specific plans for what he'd do as president."

The GOP ticket’s appearance in the Silver State comes on the same day NBC News updated it’s battleground map, using a combination of poll data and reporting from both campaigns to move Nevada into the “lean Dem” category. Despite its significant Mormon population and economic struggles, Romney advisers concede that Colorado is a more likely pickup than Nevada among the Western battlegrounds.

That leaves just 89 electoral votes in the “toss up” category. The seven remaining Toss-up states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

See related: Risks and rewards of playing prevent defense

Romney and Ryan head to Colorado next, holing an evening rally with Kid Rock and country singer Rodney Atkins, as well New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, making only her second appearance on the trail with the Republican candidate.

Ohio has now overtaken Florida as the state that has seen the most money spent on it this presidential election, according to an NBC analysis of data provided by ad-buying firm SMG Delta.

A whopping $177 million has been poured into the Buckeye State in an effort to woo swing voters from Toledo and Dayton to Columbus and Cincinnati. 

Ohio and its mid-sized markets are leaving Florida and its big media markets behind at $174 million. 

Is there any question where the campaigns and outside groups think this election is coming down to?

The position switch happened with ad buys last night and into today. Both sides have really stepped on the gas. This week, spending is at $75 million - SO FAR -- the most by far of any week, and it’s not even close. Last week was No. 2 at $60 million.

Here are the top ad-spending states overall:
1. OH: $177 million
2. FL: $174 million
3. VA: $136 million
4. CO: $76 million
5. NC: $69 million
6. IA: $68 million
7. NV: $53 million
8. WI: $36 million (campaigns didn't come on until week of Sept. 10 and has now passed NH)
9. NH: $33 million 
10. PA: $19 million (hasn't seen real buys since August. Obama camp is on air with small radio buys)
11. MI: $15 million
12. MN: $6 million (some of which is intended for WI markets)

If Ohio has been President Barack Obama’s “firewall” – the state guarding against a disappointing Electoral College result on Nov. 6 – then the president’s re-election team might consider Obama’s well-publicized auto industry rescue as a type of firewall within a firewall.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stands on a table as he addresses an overflow crowd as he campaigns at PR Machine Works in Mansfield, Ohio, Monday, Sept. 10, 2012.

Obama has taken every effort to remind voters in Ohio of his authorization of a 2009 bailout of General Motors and Chrysler that is widely credited with preserving the companies as they stood on the brink of catastrophe. In the same breath, the president is sure to mention the op-ed – “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” – penned by Romney for the New York Times, which called for a managed bankruptcy for the automakers supported partially by government guarantees.

There are real differences between how Obama sought the auto industry rescue and how Romney, judging by his own comments at the time, might have engineered support for GM and Chrysler. But if the Republican presidential nominee manages to win Midwestern states like Ohio and Wisconsin on Nov. 6, he could point to his recent messaging on the auto bailout as a reason why.

Romney has essentially tried to take credit for Obama’s actions, arguing that it was the president who ended up following Romney’s counsel all along, and lead GM and Chrysler toward a “managed bankruptcy.”

"He said that I said we should take Detroit bankrupt. And that’s right. My plan was to have the company go through bankruptcy like 7-Eleven did and Macy’s and Continental Airlines and come out stronger," Romney said at last week's second presidential debate in New York. "And I know he keeps saying, 'You want to take Detroit bankrupt.' Well, the president took Detroit bankrupt. You took General Motors bankrupt. You took Chrysler bankrupt. So when you say that I wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt, you actually did."

Romney’s semantic argument, though, obscures a gulf between him and Obama over how such a managed bankruptcy would have been managed and its implications for the industry.

First Read wrote in February – as Romney sought to win Michigan’s Republican primary – about the precise differences between Obama and Romney when it comes to the bailout.

The separation between Romney and Obama on the issue of the bailout stems from two issues. First, Romney argues that interests of the labor unions were unfairly favored over some of GM and Chrysler's private creditors. The government-supervised bankruptcy did this, he argues, by allowing the autoworkers’ retirees program an equity stake in the restructured GM in exchange for providing financial support for the bankruptcy.

Second, Romney appears to differ with the president over the extent to which government itself should have stepped forward with money to help stave off liquidation of GM and Chrysler and provide for the restructuring process. The administration's approach did this in the case of GM by essentially establishing a new, restructured company in which the government became a majority shareholder. (Romney argued Tuesday for the government to divest itself from the company.)

Romney's position in the past has been that the private sector could have stepped forward to finance and more effectively manage the bankruptcy process -- especially in a way that would have treated private stakeholders in the companies more fairly.

One of the key points, though, involves the type of support Romney would have offered to the companies. His original op-ed called for the government to back warrantees and guarantee private sector financing for the companies when they emerged from bankruptcy. But the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel overseeing the various bailouts questioned whether any private financing would have been available in the first place, given the credit crunch in early 2009.

“Gov. Romney, you keep on trying to, you know, airbrush history here,” Obama said on the topic of autos Monday evening at a third debate versus Romney. “You were very clear that you would not provide, government assistance to the U.S. auto companies, even if they went through bankruptcy. You said that they could get it in the private marketplace. That wasn’t true.”

Setting aside the candidates’ very different approaches, what is clear is that, for months now, Romney has tried to play offense on the issue of autos. And his success in states like Ohio – where one in eight jobs is said to have ties to the auto industry – may depend on Romney’s ability to convince Midwestern voters that GM and Chrysler would be doing just as well as they are now if he were president instead of Obama.

It appears voters are interested in learning more. As a New York Times spokesperson noted on Twitter, Romney’s original Nov. 18, 2008 op-ed, skyrocketed Tuesday to the top of the list of the most-read stories on the Times website.

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Continuing the argument he voiced on network morning news shows today, Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that GOP nominee Mitt Romney is vacillating between saber-rattling and dovishness on foreign policy.

"Last night you saw Gov. Romney rushing to agree with President Obama," Biden told a crowd of over a thousand at the University of Toledo, adding a "whoa!" for good measure.

J.D. Pooley / AP

Vice President Joe Biden gestures while speaking during at a campaign rally, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012, at The University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

The vice president said he was "stunned and pleased that Gov. Romney had disavowed so many things he's said in the past and acknowledged that the president was right on so many things."

"Some days they go out there and rattle the sabers, some days they are doves carrying olive branches," he added. "The only thing consistent ... about the way they talk about policy is that they are inconsistent."

The argument echoes his comments to NBC's TODAY that he was "surprised" to hear so much agreement from the GOP nominee.

Biden also won cheers from the friendly crowd for knocking the Republican ticket's "foreign policy out of the 80s, a social policy out of the 50s, and an economic policy out of the 20s."

The rally coincided with the Obama campaign's new push to publicize its vision for the next four years, condensed in a glossy packet that awaited the traveling press arriving at the event. Brandishing a copy, Biden conceded that it "sounds so trite to hold up a plan" but that "it's all here" in the 20-page brochure.

Biden's next event today is a joint rally with the president in Dayton.

Updated 1:23 p.m. ET - President Barack Obama's re-election team emerged Tuesday to argue that the president is in the proverbial driver's seat heading into the closing two weeks of the campaign.

"We continue to feel very good about our prospects two weeks from tonight," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a conference call recapping last night's third and final debate between the president and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Recommended: Obama renews ridicule of Romney the day after final debate

Messina, along with senior Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod, argued that the president is well-positioned to win a second term thanks to the strength of early voting in states like Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin and stronger turnout the Democratic high command expects from minority and young voters.

But Axelrod also acknowledged that his own words might well be a headfake in the end.

"We know what we know, and they know what they know. I'm confident we're going to win this race," he said. "We'll know who is bluffing and who isn't in two weeks."

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

"Three weeks ago Jim Messina was insisting they were ahead in the battleground states and today he is insisting they aren’t pulling out of any states.  That doesn’t sound like ‘Forward’ to me," said the Romney campaign's political director, Rich Beeson, in response.

Both the Romney and Obama campaigns are full of bravado headed into the final 14 days of the campaign, each cherrypicking a handful of polls and statistics to argue they have the upper-hand in the election. More independent polls have shown the presidential contest tightening to a horserace nationally, a development that has played out in many swing states as well.

Even the slightest sign of weakness by Obama or Romney is seized upon by the other. When Paul Begala, an adviser to a pro-Obama super PAC, said yesterday on television that the Obama campaign was all but finished in North Carolina, the Obama campaign tried to dispute his characterization.

"We are tied or ahead in every battleground state, and we're not leaving any state where we're tied or ahead," Messina said Tuesday.

The Obama campaign manager also played up their efforts to encourage Obama supporters who might not be the most consistent voters to cast their ballots early in states where that is available.

"Every single day now is Election Day," Messina said.

GRAND JUNCTION, CO – Less than two weeks before Election Day, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan will give his first major policy speech as GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s running mate.

On Wednesday, Ryan will deliver remarks on upward mobility and the economy at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, the campaign advised early Tuesday morning.

According to an aide, Ryan will lay out the vision and the policy reforms that Mitt Romney is offering in this election: “A protected space for civil society that is not threatened by government overreach, overspending and debt; a stronger safety net that helps those who are truly in need; a reformed education system that gives more choices to parents and more opportunities to children; and a robust and growing economy creating more jobs and better wages for all Americans.”

While the Wisconsin congressman, as of Monday, has held 100 campaign events since being named to the GOP ticket by Romney in early August, this campaign speech for Ryan will be different. Ryan did speak to the AARP conference in September, but this event tomorrow will only cover a specific topic.

The policy speech, during which Ryan “will make the case that Americans stuck in poverty cannot afford four more years like the last four and that Mitt Romney offers better a pathway for low-income Americans to improve their lives through opportunity and upward mobility than the failed policies of President Obama,” will be delivered in the key battleground state of Ohio.

A poll of Ohio voters released Friday by Fox News showed the race tightening in the battleground state, with Obama leading Romney 46 percent to 43 percent.

Ryan will join a roundtable discussion with community leaders in the Buckeye Speech before delivering his speech Wednesday, which will mark his 25th event in the state.

Many of the points the GOP VP candidate will outline during this address will resemble ones he typically talks about everyday on the campaign trail. But, expect this event in Cleveland to be more formal; Ryan is expected to read his remarks from a teleprompter.

“Ryan has been delivering variants of this message for years -- his Values Voters address had elements of this message -- and his desire to make this case is inspired by his mentor, Jack Kemp, who cared passionately about bringing the message of growth and prosperity to inner-city neighborhoods and building relationships between the Republican Party and advocates for the poor,” a campaign aide said.

The congressman is set to hold two joint events with Romney on Tuesday in Nevada and Colorado before heading back to the Midwest on Wednesday for this address.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- A day after the two presidential candidates sparred in their final, foreign policy-focused debate, President Barack Obama criticized Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s rhetoric on the topic as "wrong and reckless."

The president renewed his ridicule of Romney from throughout the candidates' final meeting Monday evening in Boca Raton, Fla. before a crowd of 11,000.

Related: Obama high command projects strength heading into home stretch

"In a world of new threats and profound challenges, America needs leadership that is strong and is steady. Gov. Romney’s foreign policy has been wrong and reckless. Last night, he was all over the map," said a grinning Obama. "Did you notice that?"

The president tried to paint Romney as inconsistent start-to-finish at the debate, on issues from pursuing Osama bin Laden to rescuing the auto industry. To drive the point home, Obama revived his mocking term, "Romnesia."

"We’ve come up with a name for this condition. It’s called Romnesia," Obama said. The president joked a "severe case" had broken out on Monday -- "maybe stage three."

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Even as he highlighted what he said were Romney’s shortcomings in Tuesdays’ debate, Obama shifted to tout his own plans for a second term, brandishing a 20-page pamphlet passed out by his campaign to reporters and supporters earlier in the day. The pamphlet -- which Republicans argued was just a rehash of Obama's old policies -- summarizes the positions Obama talks about on the campaign trail and that are found on his campaign website.

"I've laid out a plan for jobs and middle class security. And unlike Mitt Romney I’m actually proud to talk about what's in it," Obama said as he held up the booklet, entitled "A New Economic Patriotism."

Even while he spent considerable time talking about his new booklet, which covers mostly domestic issues like manufacturing jobs, small businesses and entitlements, Obama did return to foreign policy by the end of his speech, pillorying Romney for not mentioning American veterans during the debate.

“In the same way that Gov. Romney didn’t mention the Afghan war or our troops in his convention speech Gov. Romney didn’t mention our veterans last night. He didn’t say a word about them,” he said.

“He may written off half the country as victims behind closed doors, but the men and women and their families who have served this country so bravely, they deserve better from someone who is applying to be commander in chief,” he said.

Obama also reprised a line he used last night to criticize Romney’s proposals, on foreign policy and other issues, as outdated.

“His foreign policy is from the 1980s, his social policy is from the 1950s and his economic policies are from the 1920s," he said.

Obama will travel next to Ohio, where he'll hold a rare joint rally with Vice President Joe Biden this afternoon.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

President Barack Obama speaks during a campaign rally at the Delray Beach Tennis Center on Oct. 23, 2012 in Delray Beach, Fla.

The potential risks and rewards of playing prevent defense, especially when you’re tied… Why a foreign-policy debate might matter and why it might not… Highlighting the clash over the auto bailout; it’s all about Ohio… Unveiling our latest NBC battleground map… Obama’s latest TV ad… And Obama stumps in Florida and Ohio, while Romney hits Nevada and Colorado.

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Three weeks ago in the first presidential debate, Mitt Romney was the one who was aggressive, while President Obama seemed to be playing it safe -- and, as it turned out, too safe. Last night here in the final debate before Election Day, those roles were reversed: It was Obama who was drawing the contrasts, who looked energized, and who was in control of the conversation. And it was Romney who was playing it safe and often trying to point out similarities rather than differences. Obama was the candidate with more to prove; Romney simply wanted to clear the bar on the minimum height. Using another sports analogy: As anyone who watches football can attest, prevent defenses sometimes work (because they’re designed to prevent a big play and a quick score) and sometimes they don’t (because the defense loses its aggression and appears flat footed). Romney and his campaign clearly made the calculated risk that, with their momentum in the polls, playing it safe was a wiser strategy. If a race is tied, do you really play prevent defense? Only if you believe the race trajectory favors you. And that’s what the Romney campaign believes.

Slideshow: On the trail

*** Why a foreign-policy debate might matter and why it might not: But will last night matter? On the one hand, the subject matter was foreign policy (which has been Obama’s strong suit and Romney’s weak one), and the outcome shouldn’t have been too surprising given that Obama is the incumbent president and that Romney is a former one-term governor. On the other hand, look in our new national NBC/WSJ poll and see where Romney had made some of his biggest gains since the debate season began: He had narrowed the gap on who would be the better commander-in-chief from eight points (47% to 39%) to jut three (44%-41%). In addition, 53% of registered voters said they were comfortable with Romney being president, compared with 50% who said that about him before the debates and 56% who said that about Obama. Yes, foreign policy and national security aren’t the top issues in this election. But they matter when it comes to portraying strength and assessing if someone is prepared to be president. In that respect, last night helped the president and had the potential to hurt his challenger. What could save Romney? There are only two weeks left in the campaign. And given everything Obama has to do, making his affirmative closing argument, does the campaign have the time to two message tracks?

*** Clashing over the auto bailout: Yet perhaps the most significant exchange of the night wasn’t over foreign policy. Instead, it was about the auto bailout -- the very issue with which Obama hopes to win the battleground state of Ohio. Toward the end of the debate, the president blasted Romney on outsourcing jobs to China and for opposing the auto bailout. And the GOP presidential nominee responded only to the latter charge, one of the few times Romney took bait during the debate. “I'm a son of Detroit. I was born in Detroit. My dad was head of a car company. I like American cars. And I would do nothing to hurt the U.S. auto industry. My plan to get the industry on its feet when it was in real trouble was not to start writing checks,” Romney said. “I said they need -- these companies need to go through a managed bankruptcy. And in that process, they can get government help and government guarantees.” Obama then countered, Romney, you keep on trying to … airbrush history here. You were very clear that you would not provide government assistance to the U.S. auto companies, even if they went through bankruptcy. You said that they could get it in the private marketplace. That wasn't true.” Deciding to re-litigate the auto bailout with Obama was a calculated risk for Romney. He’s losing Ohio because of the bailout, period. In order to win Ohio, he has to convince skeptical working-class auto workers in places like Toledo and Akron that he would be there for the auto industry. It’s been a problem for him in Ohio for months. And guess where Obama and Biden are today: in Dayton and Toledo.

*** Latest NBC battleground map: Speaking of Ohio, here is our updated NBC battleground map with just two weeks until Election Day. The changes from our last map: We moved Nevada to Lean Dem; we moved North Carolina to Lean GOP; and we moved Iowa from Lean Dem to Toss-up. That puts 243 electoral votes in Obama’s column, 206 electoral votes in Romney’s, and 89 in Toss-up. Here are our seven remaining Toss-up states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin. And out of those, according to our conversations with the campaigns, you could argue that Obama holds a slight advantage in New Hampshire and Wisconsin, and Romney has a slight edge in Virginia. Here is the map:

Solid Dem (no chance at flip): DC, DE, HI, ME (3 EVs) MD, MA, NY, RI, VT (70 electoral votes)
Likely Dem (takes a landslide to flip): CA, CT, IL, WA (94)
Lean Dem: ME (1 EV) MI, MN, NV, NJ, NM, OR, PA (79)
Toss-up: CO, FL, IA, NH, OH, VA, WI (89)
Lean GOP: AZ, GA, IN, MO, NE (I EV), NC (64)
Likely GOP (takes a landslide to flip): AL, LA, MS, MT, ND, SC, SD, TX (79)
Solid GOP (no chance at flip): AK, AR, ID, KS, KY, NE (4 EVs) OK, TN, UT, WV, WY (63)

Remember, we base our battleground map on more than polls, but also where the campaigns believe the race is trending in specific states. Just because a candidate is advertising in a state, doesn’t mean they believe the state is headed in their direction.

Rick Wilking / AP

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney listens to President Barack Obama speak during the third presidential debate at Lynn University, Monday, Oct. 22, 2012, in Boca Raton, Fla.

*** Closing time: Appearing to respond to the criticism that the president hasn’t laid out a second-term agenda, the Obama campaign is up with a new 60-second TV ad where Obama looks to the camera and says, “Here’s my plan for the next four years: Making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting American-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. And ending the war in Afghanistan, so we can do some nation-building here at home.  That’s the right path.” This is what we’ve heard Obama would be doing in the final two weeks – more making the case why you should vote FOR him and vote AGAINST Romney. By the way, the ad will air in Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, Romney has a new TV ad called “Apology Tour.”

*** On the trail: Obama campaigns in Delray Beach, FL at 10:15 am ET, in Dayton, OH (with Biden) at 3:50 pm ET…. Romney and Ryan hold joint rallies in Henderson, NV at 3:15 pm ET and Morrison, CO at 9:05 pm ET.

Countdown to Election Day: 14 days

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*** Tuesday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up (live from Lynn University): Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) on behalf of the Obama campaign and former Gov. John Sununu (R-NH) on behalf of the Romney campaign… A deep dive into the Nevada odds with the Silver State’s political guru Jon Ralston… the road ahead in the seven battleground states with USA Today’s Susan Page, The Grio’s Perry Bacon, the Washington Post’s Nia-Malika Henderson, and the Tampa Bay Times’ Adam Smith.

*** Tuesday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing interviews Nicholas Burns on the substance of last night’s debate; Dana Milbank and Liz Sidoti on the style.  Gen Wesley Clark.   Rep. Jason Chaffetz.  Strategists Chip Saltsman and Chris Kofinis.  And Lori Robertson from Factcheck.org does our truth squading.

*** Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up:  MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts talks with Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D), Mesa, AZ Mayor Scott Smith (R), Sandra Fluke, Ron Reagan, Meghan McCain and Washington Post Fact-checker Glenn Kessler.

*** Tuesday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner’s guests include former. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), Deputy NYC Mayor Howard Wolfson, Tte New York Times’ Frank Bruni, theGrio.com Managing Editor Joy Reid, Pulitzer Prize-winning military correspondent David Wood of The Huffington Post, Obama National Press Secretary Ben LaBolt, and James Lipton of Bravo’s “Inside the Actors Studio”

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod, Amb. Martin Indyk, Fmr. Rep. Jane Harman, The New York Times’ David Sanger, the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus, Chris Cillizza and Michael Gerson, Democratic strategist Michael Feldman and Arab American Institute President James Zogby.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews MSNBC contributor Michael Smerconish, Jonathan Collegio from American Crossroads, Politico’s Lois Romano, Democratic strategist Margie Omero, Rana Foroohar & Jim Frederick from Time magazine, Jon Soltz from VoteVets.org, and MSNBC contributor Ari Melber.

The flash polls gave the debate again to Obama. CNN: Obama 48-40%. CBS of undecideds: Obama 53-23%.

“As Slate’s David Weigel notes, though, the CNN poll also had some results that could cheer Romney supporters. On the question, ‘Do you think Mitt Romney can or cannot handle the responsibilities of Commander-in Chief?’ a majority of voters said yes, 60 percent to 38 percent. It also showed, post-debate, that respondents were more likely to vote for Romney,” National Journal writes.

Latest state polls: NH: Obama 49-41%.

Ron Brownstein: “An array of new national and battleground state polling underscores the critical role that working-class white voters in the upper Midwest are playing as perhaps the last line of defense for President Obama in an election that continues to tilt slightly against him. Several national surveys in recent days have found Obama falling below the critical 40 percent level of support among likely white voters that he'll roughly need to hit to amass a national majority, assuming he matches his 80 percent showing among all minorities from 2008.”

The New York Times’ Sanger: “Romney avoided the more bellicose tone he often struck during the Republican primaries. … He ended up agreeing with the broad outlines of Mr. Obama’s approach on the use of drones, and opposed a breach of relations with Pakistan, arguably America’s most frustrating ally.  … As he did in his previous two debates with Mr. Obama, he shifted to the middle, and at times he even sounded the nation-building theme the president talked about as a candidate in 2008 and abandoned after he was elected. … On most of the specifics they argued about, Mr. Romney had a hard time explaining how he would act differently from Mr. Obama.” 

“For Mr. Romney, this final debate before the election in two weeks was clearly his weakest. While he seemed familiar with a range of topics, speaking about rebellions in Mali and ticking off the insurgent groups in Pakistan, he also took every opportunity he could to turn back to economic issues at home, his campaign theme.”

He also picks up on Romney saying Obama apologized for America. Romney said, “Mr. President, America has not dictated to other nations. We have freed other nations from dictators.” But Sanger points out: “In fact, America has done both, and the debate on Monday night underscored that whether Mr. Obama is re-elected or Mr. Romney moves into the Situation Room, the United States will still find itself making compromises between its values and its interests, because it usually has little other choice.”

The Wall Street Journal: “The biggest laugh line of the debate—subject to countless tweets and Internet searches—was President Barack Obama’s comeback to Mitt Romney on the size of the military, asserting that while the U.S. has fewer ships than at any time since 1916, ‘we also have fewer horses and bayonets.” (See related article: #horsesandbayonets Gallops Across the Internet.)

Molly Ball: “The most memorable line of the final presidential debate came when Mitt Romney attacked President Obama for the fact that the U.S. Navy has the least ships it's had since 1917, and Obama shot back: ‘Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets.’ The line got a big laugh. It also epitomized the tenor of the night. Romney took a remarkably conciliatory tack, seeking to blunt the criticism that he has too often gone off recklessly half-cocked when it comes to foreign affairs. But Obama was there ready with the bayonet at every turn, refusing to let Romney move past his prior statements and portraying him at every turn as callow and rudderless. … On the substance, Obama won the debate. … But Romney's team was just as convinced that the Republican prevailed on style.”

Ball concludes: “The debates are over. There are two weeks until Election Day. More than anything, the last debate revealed where the candidates think they stand: Romney confident, convinced he has only to maintain his momentum to keep floating to the top of the polls; Obama fighting like an underdog to stop Romney's rise and knock him off his pedestal.”

AP: “President Barack Obama sharply challenged Mitt Romney on foreign policy in their final campaign debate Monday night, accusing him of ‘wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map.’ The Republican coolly responded, ‘Attacking me is not an agenda’ for dealing with a dangerous world.”

And now: “The final debate behind them, both men are embarking on a home-stretch whirlwind of campaigning. The president is slated to speak in six states during a two-day trip that begins Wednesday and includes a night aboard Air force One as it flies from Las Vegas to Tampa. Romney intends to visit two or three states a day. Already four million ballots have been cast in early voting in more than two dozen states.

Beth Reinhard: “Over the course of three presidential debates, Republican Mitt Romney succeeded in defying Democratic attacks—and overcoming his own past missteps—that had threatened to disqualify him as a reasonable choice for voters weary of President Obama. Portrayed for weeks as a warmonger, and compared unfavorably to President George W. Bush, with his two unpopular wars, Romney in the debates showed stronger interest in diplomacy and using military action only as a last resort. Mocked as a buffoon on the international stage, Romney was fluent and gaffe-free. Yet as in the second debate, Obama in Monday night's face-off on foreign policy was the more frequent and more strident aggressor, racking up twice as many points if anyone had been keeping score.”

And of Obama saying: “There have been times during the campaign where you said that you would do the same things as we did, but you would say it louder,” Reinhard writes, “Frankly, he had a point. … So where does that leave the race? Probably looking more than ever like a coin toss with a smidge of advantage for the sitting president.”

AP’s Babington: “Republican Mitt Romney is acting like a challenger who feels he has enough momentum and time to overtake the president by Election Day, two weeks from now. Judging from Monday's final debate, President Barack Obama almost seems to agree. … Romney's approach was one typically taken by front-runners: First, do no harm. Don't stir the pot. Keep the clock running. Obama's forcefulness appeared chiefly aimed at discouraged Democrats who might not bother voting, rather than at the sliver of undecided voters in the handful of states still in play. … Some [Democrats] feel Romney took a big gamble by being so tame in the final face-to-face encounter.”

Marc Ambinder: "Romney was betting that he did not need to take risks, and stands a better shot at winning the election the more people associate him with the economy. Deciding to let Obama once again be the aggressor carries real risks, because of the large audience, and because the contrasts in tone between the two candidates could be large enough that some voters who initially thought Romney crossed the credibility threshold might have second thoughts." (H/T: Taegan Goddard.)

The New York Times editorial page: “Mitt Romney has nothing really coherent or substantive to say about domestic policy, but at least he can sound energetic and confident about it. On foreign policy, the subject of Monday night’s final presidential debate, he had little coherent to say and often sounded completely lost. That’s because he has no original ideas of substance on most world issues, including Syria, Iran and Afghanistan. During the debate, on issue after issue, Mr. Romney sounded as if he had read the boldfaced headings in a briefing book — or a freshman global history textbook — and had not gone much further than that.”

More: “At his worst, Mr. Romney sounded like a beauty pageant contestant groping for an answer to the final question. ‘We want a peaceful planet,” he said. “We want people to be able to enjoy their lives and know they’re going to have a bright and prosperous future and not be at war.’”

Glen Johnson: Obama turned “in the strongest performance of his three-debate series with Romney. If there was one downside, it was on a topic - foreign affairs - that polls have consistently shown ranks well behind job creation and economic recovery as most important on voters’ minds.”

National Journal’s Friedman says Obama’s comment that sequestration “won’t happen” “may not change much. But if Obama wins, the statement could make it harder for him to wield the leverage resulting from threatening to let the cuts occur.”

The right…
Ross Douthat: “[B]y essentially acknowledging the overlap between his posture and the president’s, Romney almost guaranteed that Obama would win the debate on points – which the president pretty clearly did, deploying the advantages of incumbency (not to mention the execution of a certain Al Qaeda leader) effectively in an arena where Americans are still inclined to trust him. The question is what the audience was looking for. If they were looking for evidence that a Romney administration would deliver significantly better results overseas, then they probably came away disappointed, and Obama’s win will boost him in the polls. But if they were just looking (as I’ll admit that I was looking) to be reassured that Romney is something other than a wild-eyed warmonger, then the Republican nominee may have helped his cause tonight even in defeat.”

Rich Lowry: Romney “was shaky at the beginning and strangely mentioned Mali a couple of times. I hope his team is going to clean up his Afghanistan answer because it certainly sounded like a President Romney would remove U.S. troops entirely after 2014, rather than leaving some sort of follow-on force. You can tell how much more comfortable he was whenever he started talking about domestic issues. … Overall, this night is the capstone on a successful series of debates for Romney.”

Weekly Standard’s Fred Barnes: “Mitt Romney’s aim was to present himself with the demeanor and grasp of foreign and national security issues of a president of the United States. He succeeded. President Obama sought to make Romney appear unqualified to be president and commander in chief. He failed. And that was the story of the third and final presidential debate. This may or may not give the Romney campaign a boost, but it won’t hurt.”

Bill Kristol thought Romney was “more than holding his own.”

Bing West: “A man from the moon, having read about the past five decades of American history and sent to Earth to listen to the foreign policy debate, would have concluded that the aggressive Mr. Obama was the conservative Republican and the inoffensive Mr. Romney was the moderate Democrat. For the first ten minutes, it appeared Mr. Romney had decided not to show up.”

And why the more passive Romney – women? “The difference between the genders in the choice of candidates has been striking, and Romney’s performance would lead no reasonable undecided voter, female or male, to worry he was too bellicose.”

The left…
Greg Sargent: “[F]or most of the night, Romney studiously avoided attacking Obama aggressively. Perhaps Romney feels out of his depth on these issues and decided to tread carefully, to avoid major mistakes. Perhaps Romney thinks he’s on track to win. Perhaps Romney decided his most important imperative was to appear reassuring and presidential, rather than go on the attack. He clearly decided he needed to head off perceptions of himself as a throwback to Bush-era foreign policy adventurism, again and again stressing his desire for a peaceful world. Tonight, America was introduced to Peacenik Mitt — and watched him take a pummeling. I don’t know how much this will impact the overall dynamic of the race — it may not matter much at all — but it’s hard to see this as a good night for Romney.

Josh Marshall: “The first half hour was a draw, though President Obama scored by default when Romney either didn’t or couldn’t attack on Libya. After that though Romney began to falter as Obama became more direct, organized and declarative. Romney seemed increasingly lost. Obama seemed comfortable, happy. The visuals told the story. Romney was sweating a lot and looked like he was in pain. Into the second half of the debate Romney’s answers seemed more jumbled and unfocused. There was even that rambling and generally uncontroversial digression on Pakistan. Why? He seemed lost.”

Joe Klein: “President Obama won the foreign policy debate, cleanly and decisively, on both style and substance. It was as clear a victory as Mitt Romney’s in the first debate. And Romney lost in similar fashion: he seemed nervous, scattered, unconvincing — and he practiced unilateral disarmament, agreeing with Obama hither and yon … on Iraq (as opposed to two weeks ago), on Afghanistan (as opposed to interviews he’s given this fall), on Libya and Syria and Iran. He didn’t have a single creative or elegantly stated foreign policy thought and, indeed, seemed foolish at times, using the word peace about as often as George McGovern in 1972 (not that McGovern was foolish, but Romney has run so hot and aggressive on foreign policy that he seemed a sudden convert to transcendental meditation or Yoko Ono’s secret consort). Romney did have some strong moments — but they were, once again, on the domestic economy.”

John Nichols: “Mitt Romney’s just not that into foreign policy. The hapless Republican nominee for president spent most of the only foreign-policy debate of the 2012 fall campaign mumbling lines like: ‘I want to underscore the—the same point the president made…’ ‘That was something I concurred with…’ ‘I supported his—his action there…’ ‘I don’t blame the administration…’ ‘…do as the president has done…’ ‘… and feel the president was right…’ ‘I congratulate him for what he has done.’”

Here's the NBC Truth Squad post-debate analysis on Libya and "Apology Tour."

AP fact checks the debate: “Voters didn't always get the straight goods when President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney made their case for foreign policy and national security leadership Monday night before their last super-sized audience of the campaign. A few of their detours into domestic issues were problematic too. Romney flubbed Middle East geography. Obama got Romney's record as Massachusetts governor wrong. At the same time, they injected a little more accuracy into two leading misstatements of the campaign: Romney's claim for months that Obama went around apologizing for America, and the president's assertion, going back to his State of the Union address in January, that the U.S. military's exit from Afghanistan will yield money to rebuild America.”

About that auto industry claim they argued about… “The dispute comes down to whether a managed bankruptcy for General Motors and Chrysler would have been possible at the time without the government providing approximately $80 billion in financing to keep the companies running during the process,” the L.A. Times writes, adding, “The bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel, the government-appointed watchdog for the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, backs Obama on this. It said in a January 2011 report that private financing was not available for General Motors and Chrysler in late 2008. The panel said ‘the circumstances in the global credit markets in November and December 2008 were unlike any the financial markets had seen in decades. U.S. domestic credit markets were frozen in the wake of the Lehman bankruptcy, and international sources of funding were extremely limited.’”

The Washington Post’s Kessler: “[M]any independent analysts have concluded that taking the approach recommended by Romney would not have worked in 2008, simply because the credit markets were so frozen that a bankruptcy was not a viable option at the time.”

Bloomberg/BusinessWeek’s Josh Barro’s take: “The president has it right on the merits that if you didn’t inject cash at the same time that you did that backed by the government that at least Chrysler would not have been possible to reorganize.”

FactCheck.org had a simpler take just on the issue of being for ANY government assistance: “Obama claimed the record would back him up when he accused Romney of opposing any federal ‘help’ or ‘assistance’ for troubled automakers. In fact, the record shows Romney supported federal loan guarantees.” He wrote in his op-ed: “The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk.”

New York magazine: “During the debate tonight, Mitt Romney mentioned that Syria is important because it's Iran's ‘route to the sea.’ The thing is, Iran doesn't even border Syria, as you can see our childishly-annotated map above. And Iran already has access to the sea on its southern border. As confusing as the remark was, though, the Washington Post notes that tonight was hardly the first time Romney has made it, and the Romney campaign explains, ‘It's generally recognized that Syria offers Iran strategic basing/staging access to the Mediterranean as well as to terrorist proxies in the Levant. This is a large reason why Iran invests so much in Syria.’” 

Here’s Politifact’s wrap of last night, including Pants on Fire for Romney’s Apology Tour comments and that the U.S. Navy’s at its smallest since 1917 and the Air Force smallest since 1947.

“Counting the number of ships or aircraft is not a good measurement of defense strength because their capabilities have increased dramatically in recent decades,” Politifact writes. “Romney’s comparison ‘doesn’t pass ‘the giggle test,’ said William W. Stueck, a historian at the University of Georgia.”

A few of FactCheck.org’s findings: “President Obama erred when he accused Mitt Romney of saying during the 2008 campaign that ‘we should ask Pakistan for permission’ before going into that country to kill or capture terrorists. What Romney said was that he’d ‘keep our options quiet.’ Obama wrongly accused Romney of not telling the truth when Romney said ‘you and I agreed’ some U.S. troops should be left in Iraq. In fact, the president tried and failed to negotiate an agreement to keep 3,000 to 4,000 support troops there; Romney said he would have left 10,000 to 30,000. … Romney was wrong when he repeated a claim that our ‘Navy is smaller now than any time since 1917.’ Actually, there are slightly more ships active now than at the low point under President George W. Bush.”

Appearing on TODAY, Vice President Joe Biden said that he was "surprised" by Gov. Mitt Romney's agreement with the president on foreign policy issues in the debate, eschewing his previous criticisms of the administration on international affairs.

"Just a couple weeks ago when I debated Congressman Ryan, Congressman Ryan was laying out the foreign policy with regard to what he and what Gov. Romney believed; the overwhelming criticism of our positions in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and across the board. And tonight, Gov. Romney seemed to be rushing to agree with everything the president had done already."

"I was surprised," he added.

Ryan, who also appeared Tuesday on TODAY, defended his running mate’s debate performance. He said Romney was clear about how his foreign affair policies differed from those of the current administration. He called Obama’s engagement strategy with Iran, Israel and other nations “naïve.”

“Mitt Romney did a fantastic job of spelling out his foreign policy doctrine. I know it sounds like a cliché, but peace through strength is a doctrine,” he said.

Asked about the state of the drum-tight race for the presidency, Biden pointed to swing state polls where Obama appears to be holding a lead.

"I think we will win Ohio," he told Matt Lauer. "I think we're going to win Florida."

Biden, who appeared from Toledo in the middle of a three-day Ohio swing, said that supporters' energy on the ground there points to an Obama win. "The enthusiasm is real," he said. "The polling that I'm seeing is that we're still ahead."

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NBC News takes a deep dive into the statements made by President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in their third and final debate of the 2012 election cycle. 

We take a look at two topics and put their comments to the test.

Iraq
During the debate, Romney said, “We don't want another Iraq, we don't want another Afghanistan. That's not the right course for us.”

But four years ago – during another debate in Boca Raton – NBC’s Tim Russert, the moderator, asked whether the war in Iraq was worth "the cost in blood and treasure we have spent?"

Romney responded: "It was the right decision to go into Iraq. I supported it at the time. I support it now."

Obama also argued that Romney, as recently as two weeks ago, said the administration should have kept troops in Iraq. “This is just a few weeks ago, you indicated that we should still have troops in Iraq,” said the president.

“No I didn't,” Romney responded. “I'm sorry.”

“It was in your speech,” Obama shot back.

“I indicated that you failed to put in place a Status of Forces agreement at the end of the conflict that existed,” Romney said.

But both men were shading their past positions.

The president was referring to an Oct. 8, 2012, speech that Romney gave criticizing the “abrupt” withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, but the Republican didn’t explicitly say the U.S. should have more troops there.

Romney is right that the administration tried and failed to get an agreement that would have allowed a small force of U.S. troops to remain for several years.

But there is some truth in what the president said -- over the last year, Romney has said he would have left between 10,000 and 30,000 troops in Iraq to transition to Iraqi security forces taking over.

'Apology tour'
During the debate, Romney pulled out one of his most frequent attack lines against the president, charging that Obama went on an “apology tour,” criticizing U.S. actions when he visited other countries early in his presidency.

“And then the president began what I've called an ‘apology tour’ of going to -- to various nations in the Middle East and -- and criticizing America,” Romney said. “I think they looked at that and saw weakness.”

Obama responded, “Nothing Gov. Romney just said is true, starting with this notion of me apologizing, that has been the biggest whopper that’s been told in the course of this campaign and every fact checker and every reporter who has looked at it governor, has said this is not true.”

This charge is so central to Romney campaign that the governor even titled his own book, “No Apology.”

So is Romney right about this?

The president pushed back hard, insisting that he never used the word “apologize” when explaining that he thought the U.S. had made some mistakes in dealing with the world.

But this is open to interpretation. Romney points to several examples, including when the president said, in Strasbourg , France, in 2009 that, “America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.”

Romney claims that shows weakness, which is harmful to U.S. positioning in the world.

UPDATED 11:30 p.m. ET -- President Barack Obama repeatedly ridiculed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s foreign policy views as dated and haphazard in his third and final debate with his Republican challenger, who in turn accused the president of diminishing American leadership during his first term.

Vote in our poll: Did the last debate influence your 2012 decision?

 Obama took advantage of incumbency to remind voters throughout the 90-minute debate of his experience as commander-in-chief, and Romney’s lack thereof. The former Massachusetts governor, meanwhile, sought to project a deep familiarity with vexing global issues. 

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

The debate, held just 15 days before the election in the battleground state of Florida, veered at times from its stated emphasis on foreign policy and into issues of the economy and the budget – topics on which Romney holds an advantage over the president in most polls. 

Rick Wilking / Reuters

President Barack Obama (R) listens as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (L) speaks during the final U.S. presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida October 22, 2012.

But Obama sought to do to Romney with foreign policy – disqualify him in the eyes of voters – what his re-election campaign had tried to do on Romney’s economic proposals. The president openly mocked Romney’s suggestion, for instance, that Russia is the top geopolitical foe of the United States. 

"You seem to want to import the foreign policy of the 1980s, just like the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s," he said. 

Obama also derided Romney’s vow to grow the size of the Navy as indicative of the GOP nominee’s dated views toward national security. 

"Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed," Obama said. "We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines. And so the question is not a game of Battleship." 

Romney used his time at the debate to more broadly accuse Obama of presiding over a period of diminishing American leadership abroad. 

“In nowhere in the world is America's influence greater than it was four years ago,” he said. 

The former Massachusetts governor also voiced directly to the president an accusation – that Obama had apologized for American values – he has made throughout the campaign. 

“You said that on occasion America had dictated to other nations,” Romney said. “Mr. President, America has not dictated to other nations. We have freed other nations from dictators.” 

That attack prompted Obama to respond with a blistering characterization of Romney’s own trip to the United Kingdom, Israel and Poland this past summer. 

“When I was a candidate for office, the first trip I took was to visit our troops. And when I went to Israel as a candidate, I didn't take donors. I didn't attend fundraisers,” Obama said in reference to a fundraiser Romney held while in Jerusalem this summer. “I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, to remind myself the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel will be unbreakable.” 

Obama’s tough rhetoric, though, betrayed his campaign’s outward confidence amid a series of national and battleground state polls suggesting the election had tightened to a dead heat over the past month, since Romney’s strong performance in their first debate on Oct. 3. Republicans argued that the president’s posture was that of a candidate who has fallen behind Romney over the past few weeks. 

Romney used a number of opportunities to steer the debate back toward domestic issues, on which the former Massachusetts governor has mostly staked his campaign. Romney got an opportunity to recount his five-point economic plan, and his direct-to-camera closing statement emphasized the economy as much as foreign policy.

The Republican nominee also largely declined to make as sharp of a case about Obama’s handling of the Sept. 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Romney has used the administration’s response to that incident to make up ground versus Obama, but scarcely dwelled on Libya – the opening topic of Monday evening’s debate. 

Romney also tried to dissociate himself with Republican hawkishness, refusing to engage a hypothetical question about Iran’s nuclear program, ruling out a military strike against Libya and stating the U.S. “can't kill our way out of this mess” as it relates to al Qaeda. 

The debate’s tangents offered Obama other opportunities to go after Romney. The upcoming “sequester” – the automatic spending cuts, particularly to the defense budget, set to take effect at the beginning next year – prompted the two candidates to renew their squabbling over Romney’s tax plan. 

And Obama – whose decision to extend federal aid to Detroit’s troubled automakers in 2009 has become a pillar of his pitch to voters in Midwestern battleground states – eagerly pounced on a tangent involving the auto industry to criticize Romney. 

The Republican nominee also largely shrugged off Obama’s attacks as obfuscatory. 

"Attacking me is not an agenda," Romney said early at the debate, at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. 

Whether Monday’s debate would provoke a thinning sliver of undecided voters to make a decision was another question, to which the answer wasn’t immediately clear following the debate. 

Both Obama and Romney had arranged major rallies with their running mates on Tuesday so as to project momentum in the closing two weeks of the campaign. Both campaigns left Boca Raton with a self-professed sense of confidence, validation or dismissal of which will come on Nov. 6.