The third and final presidential debate aired Monday night on the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy telling the world about the Soviet Union’s nuclear missiles in Cuba.

In this round table debate, the candidates responded to questions on Libya and Syria while continuously fact checking one another.

During the decision on the Middle East, President Barack Obama attacked Governor Romney, “So, what we need to do with respect to the Middle East is strong steady leadership, not wrong and reckless leadership that is all over the map.

And unfortunately, that’s the kind of opinions that you’ve offered throughout this campaign, and it is not a recipe for American strength, or keeping America safe over the long haul.”

Romney said “Attacking me is not an agenda.”

A good portion of the debate, the candidates remained off topic, addressing issues such as women’s rights, education and the economy.

According to businessweek.com, Monday’s debate drew 59.5 million viewers despite other competition including Monday night football.

Just a week earlier, however, the second debate had more viewers coming in at 65.6 million. On Oct. 3 the viewership for the first debate was 67.2 million.

Business week also notes that the candidate’s first two debates were rated in the top 10 most-watched presidential debates since President Ford and Carter in 1976.

Viewership is not the only thing that differed among this year’s presidential debates.

On Oct. 3, the focus of the debate was domestic issues. The second was driven by questions from 82 undecided voters.

In the first debate, Governor Romney appeared more aggressive and many polls and analysts claimed he won.

In contrast, nearly two weeks later during the town-hall debate President Obama took an assertive approach that nonetheless resulted in what some call a victory.

Taylor Evans, a junior political science major from Durham realized the shift. “From the first debate, you can see how the energy level from President Obama has increased.

Romney and Obama both are matching each other’s energy and are challenging each other’s plans and policies more and are pointing out the inconsistencies in the opponents’ statements.”

Monday’s debate showed that both Governor Romney and President Obama to some extent agreed on many of the same issues. All of the debates provided viewers with insight to what candidates do or do not support.

“The debates do influence undecided or first time voters choice of who they will vote for because it allows us to see the candidates unprompted,” said Christin Marshall, senior Computer Science major.

The only thing left for the candidates to do now is continue to campaign and make speeches to various groups, because as President Obama said, “You’ve now heard three debates, months of campaigning and way too many TV commercials. And now you’ve got a choice.”

• DaShawn Fleming, Staff Reporter