>>>
good evening, if you were among the over 60 million of us who watched the
presidential debate
, then you know we saw two things that night, really, an energized
mitt romney
, and lackluster
president obama
, and tonight it appears what happened that night has the numbers on the move there was new polling when they opened up against the president, the numbers show the race trending, tightening, trending towards
romney
, at least right now, we begin with
peter alexander
, traveling with the
romney
campaign.
>> reporter:
brian, good evening to you, a
romney
adviser tells me that the campaign is stronger, that the candidate is increasingly confident. he tried to draw a sharp contrast on the issue of
national security
. with just 29 days to go, following the last debate, the race is quickly tightening, but remains volatile. the polls had different results. the latest poll shows
romney
leads, now up four points between the likely voters, but a new
gallup poll
shows the president up by five. looking to capitalize on his momentum, today,
romney
tried to frame himself as a steady commander-in-chief, and in what his campaign feels is a major
foreign policy
speech, accusing
president obama
of weak leadership.
>>
i know that
president obama
hopes for a weaker
middle east
, but hope is not a strategy.
>> reporter:
and calling for a change of course, but offering few new policy details,
romney
argued that the
middle east
is a more dangerous place since the president took office, citing serious
civil war
. the potential of a nuclear iran, and last month's terrorist attack in libya, that left four americans, including the
u.s. ambassador
, dead.
>>
it is our responsibility, and the responsibility of the president to use his greatest power to shape history, not to lead from behind.
>> reporter:
the
obama campaign
was quick with a rebut all, they talked about specifics.
>>
now i'm a professor, he gave absolutely no specifics.
>> reporter:
in california today,
president obama
appealed to hispanics, dedicating the first ever
national monument
to a contemporary mexican-american, the late labor leader,
caesar chavez
. with the stakes higher than ever, the president put a spin on his own debate performance, rallying the supporters at a concert in hollywood last night.
>>
my understanding, it was an incredible show. and everybody here is an incredible professional, such great friends, and they just performed flawlessly
night after night
, and i can't always say the same.
>> reporter:
in today's speech,
mitt romney
also appeared to try to take away from the president's signature success overseas, as to the
death of osama bin laden
. he credited the military and professionals for that.
>>
here, traveling with the
romney
campaign, in virginia tonight, peter,
“ ”