Romney

The last debate ("Candidates trade foreign policy jabs," Oct. 23) demonstrated that Mitt Romney's approach is back to how George W. Bush lead this country - with fear of "imminent threat. " President Bush and Karl Rove lied to this country by using the tactic of "fear" to warrant a war. And now Mr. Romney is using this same fear factor to say that we need to spend more on the military and get ready for war. President Barack Obama, on the other hand, is using economic sanctions to prevent the need for another war. As for Mr. Romney's description of an "apology tour," I truly admire President Obama's ability to stay calm and level headed when in comes to foreign diplomacy.

PARIS -- There's a good chance that American voters will screw up the presidential election. "How could you say such a thing when in a democracy the people are, by definition, correct?" you ask. Because there's no such thing as collective intelligence, that's why. Sure, there are individuals within a given society who happen to be informed and intelligent -- but it requires work to overcome the sort of inertia that has so many other people in that society pinned to their recliners watching "Dancing With the Stars" while precariously balancing a mound of salsa atop a tortilla chip.

The final presidential debate Monday drew a TV audience of 59.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media. That's down from the 67.2 million and 65.6 million for the first and second debates, respectively. But it still shows huge interest -- particularly when you consider that the debate was up against a game seven in the National League Championship series and "Monday Night Football," which together drew more than 18 million viewers. Mentions in social media were down as well -- to about 8 million, according to Bluefin Labs.

During Monday's presidential debate we witnessed yet another incarnation of the ever-changing Mitt Romney ("Candidates trade foreign policy jabs," Oct. 23). This time it was a bellicose candidate, ready to take us into another war in the Middle East, imitating his Republican predecessor who foolishly dragged us into two tragic adventures. And we again received lots of well-rehearsed platitudes and talking points with little evidence that there exists any real plan or strategy behind them.

We're closing in on Election Day, but the questions about what Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan would do if elected are only growing larger. Rarely before in American history has a presidential ticket campaigned on such a blank slate. Yet, paradoxically, not a day goes by that we don't hear Mr. Romney, Mr. Ryan or some other exponent of the GOP claim that businesses aren't creating more jobs because they're uncertain about the future. And the source of that uncertainty, they say, is President Barack Obama -- especially his Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

It's a safe bet that President Barack Obama misses the old Mitt Romney - the one who described himself as "severely conservative. " In their first debate in Denver, Mr. Romney outflanked the president by assuming the role of Moderate Mitt, a sweet-tempered fellow we hadn't met before. He promised he'd never reduce the share of the tax burden paid by wealthy Americans, cut federal education spending or restrict access to contraceptives. Mr. Obama seemed flummoxed that the opponent he'd expected was a no-show.

The third and final debate between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney included a few memorable lines - Mr. Romney's promise that in his administration, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be on the receiving end of "more backbone," and Mr. Obama's "horses and bayonets" to describe his opponent's outdated ideas about the size of the military. But perhaps the most trenchant remark was the president's summary of Mr. Romney's approach to foreign policy: "You'd do the same things we did, but you'd say them louder, and somehow that that would make a difference.

Leave it to The Sun to mock Mitt Romney's voluntary effort to include women in his administration as governor of Massachusetts ("The binding of women," Oct. 18). Must any affirmative action to include women be mandated by government to satisfy The Sun's editorial board? Oh, wait? I get it. If the government had mandated Mr. Romney's action, then our president could have told Mr. Romney: "You didn't build - I mean do - that. " Bob Price, Lutherville

This is bigger than Big Bird or even binders full of women. The first two presidential debates and vast public reaction have raised too many media-related questions to be addressed in one column. But the ones involving huge conversations in social media demand a closer look - especially in terms of who's doing the talking and how representative or biased they might be. Tuesday's town hall showdown generated 12.24 million comments on Twitter and Facebook, making it the top political event of all time in social media.

Once again, The Sun chastises Mitt Romney for doing a good thing - aggressively hiring women to work on his team in Massachusetts ("The binding of women," Oct. 18). My experience in business over 40-plus years is that women are paid the same as men with the same education, experience, and performance. And companies more often than not work with employees (male or female) who have children or parents in need of care. Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville