Last roll of dice for Obama and Romney

Ahead of their last debate, Republican contender Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama are cramming foreign policy and taking a rare break from swing-state campaigning.

Tonight’s face-off in Boca Raton, Florida, represents one of the last major opportunities for Obama and Romney to capture the attention of millions of voters — especially that small but sought-after group of voters who have not made up their minds.

Obama was holed up in Camp David in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, where he arrived on Friday to prep for the debate, a 90-minute encounter focused on international affairs.

With him at the presidential retreat were a band of top advisers, including national security adviser Tom Donilon, campaign strategist David Axelrod, and White House senior adviser David Plouffe.

Romney planned to spend the weekend in Florida, continuing intensive preparation that has consumed large amounts of his time in recent weeks.

Foreign policy has surfaced as a prominent issue in the waning weeks of the race, elevated by a deadly attack on the US consulate in Libya, and a restive situation in Syria.

Although polls show that voters continue to prioritise economic issues, both candidates are aggressively pitching themselves as more competent to be commander-in-chief.

In an unusually quiet day on the campaign trail, Romney running mate Paul Ryan was the only candidate to be out in front of voters. With a tight race closing in, neither Romney nor Obama can afford more than a few days away from the handful of states that will decide the winner.