The Showdown, Round II: Obama, Romney Face Off in Second Presidential Debate

Obama-Romney II, three weeks before the election (AP)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) - President Barack Obama sought a steadier showing, while Republican challenger Mitt Romney strove for further political gains in their second of three campaign debates Tuesday night, a nationally televised town hall-style encounter exactly three weeks before Election Day.
Both men rehearsed extensively for the 90-minute encounter, a turnabout for Obama, whose low-energy performance in the first debate nearly two weeks ago sent a shudder through the ranks of his partisans and helped spark a rise in the polls for his rival.
"I had a bad night," the president conceded, days after he and Romney shared a stage for the first time, in Denver. His aides made it known he didn't intend to be as deferential to his challenger this time, and the presidential party decamped for a resort in Williamsburg, Va., for rehearsals that consumed the better part of three days.
Romney rehearsed in Massachusetts and again after arriving on Long Island on debate day, with less to make up for.