A conservative presidential election analyst and a former congressman believe it will be a tall order for President Barack Obama to recover in tonight's second presidential debate, where they believe he won't likely be able to defend his record.
Tonight's debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, will cover both foreign and domestic policy. It will be a town hall format in which a panel of undecided voters selected by The Gallup Organization will ask the questions. Discussion will be moderated by Candy Crowley, CNN's chief political correspondent.
An analysis by Associated Press summarizes the hopes of each camp, saying while Romney would love another debate like the last one, Obama most certainly would not. Dr. Charles W. Dunn of Regent University says President Obama lost the first debate on both style and substance.
"He has to recover in both, and that means that those gestures, those looks of his face, those things that we as a people took negatively from him -- he's got to get rid of those things," the professor asserts. "And then substantively, he's got to be able to speak with knowledge and in a way that we understand."
Compared to Obama, Dunn believes Romney spoke confidently with arguments that demonstrated his substance.
"So it's a tall order for Barack Obama now to recover," he concludes.
Bob Beauprez, a former Colorado congressman who attended the first debate in Denver, believes Mitt Romney will be well prepared in the area of foreign policy.
"I know he's got some very capable foreign policy advisors," he notes. "Mitt is obviously a very quick study, and I think he's going to do very well. In addition to Mitt's capabilities, I'm guessing right now the last thing that Barack Obama wants to do is defend his foreign policy."
Beauprez says Obama will have a tough time defending either his domestic or foreign record.
"The economy is such an enormous issue and it will continue to be," the former congressman regards. "I think Barack Obama has failed miserably on his pledge to fix the economy. I think he has failed miserably on his oath to protect and defend the United States of America against all of our enemies."
He doubts Romney will go soft on Obama in the area of foreign policy during this debate and the final one at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, on October 22, which will deal exclusively with foreign policy.