Romney holds his own against Obama

Taking the offensive right from the word go in the 90-minute encounter, Wednesday night in Denver, Colorado, Romney made good use of a gaffe by Vice President Joe Biden to suggest that the middle class had been "buried" under Obama's economic policies.

"I just don't know how the president could have come into office, facing 23 million people out of work, rising unemployment, an economic crisis at the kitchen table, and spend his energy and passion for two years fighting for Obamacare instead of fighting for jobs for the American people," he said.

Obama, on the other hand, seemed a little listless, a bit smug and somewhat professorial to begin with as he was forced to defend his record of four years in office while he charged his opponent with vowing to undo a host of his reforms without specifying what he would do instead.

"At some point, the American people have to ask themselves if the reason that Governor Romney is keeping all these plans secret is because they're too good," he said.