Presidential Debate Format: Obama and Romney Will Sit at the Table to Debate Foreign Policy

Impact

President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney will sit tonight at 9:00 p.m. (ET) from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, to debate foreign policy with each other and moderator Bob Schieffer, the host of CBS's Sunday political show Face the Nation

The candidates will be seated at a table, the same way Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan debated on October 11 from Kentucky. But don't let the more intimate setting fool you, as both Obama and Romney will surely go toe to toe trying to deliver the kind of forceful performance that they expect will be the deal breaker in a race that has become increasingly close (both candidates remain locked at 47% nationally, according to the latest presidential polls). 

And, to that effect, both camps deployed surrogates to the Sunday political talk shows as they try to shape the race's narrative to their own benefit. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) was on Meet the Press where he accused President Obama of "lacking a plan" for the next four years and claimed the Republicans' momentum in the polls "will just get better" (as more voters see "the real Mitt Romney and his vision for America"). Rubio also appeared on CBS's Face the Nation, where he acknowledged how this year's presidential debates have influenced the race. 

Conversely, Obama Senior Advisor David Axelrod, followed Rubio on Meet the Press. Axelrod said the Obama camp always expected this to be "a very close race" but expressed optimism about where things stand right now. The senior Obama operative dismissed the polls that show Romney and Obama going neck and neck, and highlighted what he says is the president's advantage in early voting -- particularly in the crucial battleground state of Ohio.