A conservative political scientist and presidential election analyst believes Mitt Romney has the advantage heading into tonight's final presidential debate, and a pro-family activist doesn't expect the outcome of the discussion to change the minds of many voters.
The debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, will be strictly on foreign policy, which might have been considered an advantage for President Obama before September 11, 2012, when Islamic terrorists murdered the American ambassador and three others at the Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Dr. Charles W. Dunn of Regent University believes the ongoing controversy surrounding that debacle will help Mitt Romney.
"Governor Romney will have a clear advantage going into that debate because of the Libyan problem with Benghazi," he states. "The administration has not spoken straightforwardly to the American people. Now, something may happen to change this, [but] as it is right now, advantage: Romney going into the third debate."
He also points out that history is on the side of the GOP challenger.
"From the Kennedy-Nixon debate until now, the winner of the first poll after the first debate has always gone on to win the White House," the analyst notes. "Romney won the first debate."
Romney has continued to pull ahead of Obama in swing states like Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia. And in recent days, the GOP challenger has picked up endorsements from major newspapers in both Florida (The Tampa Tribune and The Orlando Sentinel) and Ohio (The Columbus Dispatch).
Phil Burress, chairman of Citizens for Community Values (CCV), does not think tonight's debate will have much of an impact on the race.
"I think with each debate it has less and less effect, unless somebody has a major, major blunder," he offers. "The media makes a bigger deal out of these debates than anyone else. I'm in the rural county of Preble County in western Ohio, and the sense here … and out in the field [is] that the second debate was just real boring."
Moreover, he suggests foreign policy is not the top concern of most voters this year.
"National security is obviously very important to all of us, but I think right now we've learned that the voters are concerned about one thing and one thing only, and that's our economy," the CCV chairman contends.
But regarding Obama's foreign policy, he makes note of one aspect that does not set well with Christian voters.
"The fact that Obama has turned his back on Israel is probably going to be an issue that he can never reverse himself on," Burress states. "He's no friend to Israel, and certainly Romney is. And for the Christian vote and the people who understand the importance of Israel, that is not going to bode well."