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Mitt Romney gestures beside his wife Ann following the third and final presidential debate.
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Mitt Romney entered Monday night's debate on a political roll. His surge in national polls seems to have solidified into an actual edge.
So the former Massachusetts governor's mission was to keep things pointed in the right direction by looking like a calm, competent and credible commander-in-chief and do nothing to create new questions in voters' minds.
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To do that, he had to associate himself with the positive stereotype of Republican Presidents — that they're strong and principled (Ronald Reagan). And he had to distance himself from the photo-negative stereotype — that they're simplistic and too eager to use military force (George W. Bush).
His "do no harm" strategy worked as far as it went. Romney didn't say anything irresponsible or scary. He probably didn't shake anyone's confidence in him.
But it had costs as well. On the biggest controversy of the moment, the attack on our embassy in Libya, he tried to bunt. Republicans have been breathlessly hammering the administration on this for weeks, ostensibly suggesting there's been a massive coverup, yet Romney had hardly anything to say.
On other previous flash points — Afghanistan, Iran and Syria — he blurred differences, all but indicating that he'd continue the Obama foreign policy. His tone was calm, far less hawkish than he's been in the past.
Strategically smart, though he may have to explain his evolution.
And Obama was nearly as sharp as he was dull in the first debate, intent on remaining on the offensive. He was comfortable defending his record and eager to blast Romney's words and plans.
About Romney's intention to spend trillions more on the military — including building many more ships for the Navy — he said that's out of touch with our actual strategic needs: "We also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed. We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them."
Tough. Too tough? Up to viewers to judge. Risky, given the electoral importance of Virginia, where ships are built? Maybe.
To me, it worked because it was part of an effective argument: that we build the military we need strategically, to meet the threats of the new world.
Another line, about Romney having "the foreign policies of the 1980s... the social policies of the 1950s and the economic policies of the 1920s" felt too canned to me, as though Obama was looking for the first opening to unload it.
Obama pointed out Romney's confusing and conflicting statements on Afghanistan and Libya, adding this: "Here's one thing I've learned as commander-in-chief. You've got to be clear, both to our allies and our enemies, about where you stand and what you mean."
Sharp, though it's a line that — because of the crazy way our politics works — draws more blood when aimed at an allegedly weak Democrat like John Kerry than at a Republican like Mitt Romney.
And Romney made at least one factual slipup. He said, "Syria is Iran's only ally in the Arab world. It's their route to the sea." Um, no. Check a map. And while this isn't a geography test, we are talking about the country Romney has deemed the world's biggest threat.
Still, Romney did connect. He hit Obama for skipping Israel on his "apology tour" (there was no apology tour, but never mind that), and for fraying America's relationship with our top Mideast ally. He referenced unease about tensions, including among Democratic Senators.
That gave Obama the chance to hit back with emotion — about his visit to Israel in 2008, including to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum.
But Romney had left a mark.
On Syria, he sounded a bit more motivated to stop the bloodshed, and he made clear many times that he simply wasn't interested in engaging American troops.
And he repeatedly returned to the economy, pounding home his core message over and over again.
There were some major omissions from the conversation. Climate change didn't come up once, which means it has only been obliquely touched upon in four-and-a-half hours of debates. Drones just buzzed by.
And there was not a peep about the war on drugs or the chaotic violence in Mexico. Based on many of the questions, you might even have guessed that the United States is located in the eastern hemisphere.
But for the purposes of fast-approaching Nov. 6, what happened was: Romney did what he needed to do. He may not have soared, but he didn't stumble. To borrow a phrase from a 2008 Obama primary debate, he was Presidential enough.
jgreenman@nydailynews.com
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