Partisans agree: Libya an issue of competence

(CBS News) On the morning of the final presidential debate, which will focus on foreign policy, former Governor Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., and Republican strategist Rick Davis spar over a contentious foreign policy issue in the news: Libya.

On "CBS This Morning," both Granholm and Davis agreed that the handling of Libya demonstrates a lack of competence. Their positions diverge on who has been incompetent -- President Obama or Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

"Here's an administration that even until this day doesn't know what happened in the last three weeks in Benghazi," Davis said. A new report reveals that the Central Intelligence Agency believed and told the Obama administration that the attacks began with a spontaneous demonstration for more than two weeks.

Granholm criticized Romney's handling of the situation. In the early hours of the attack that killed four Americans, the Romney campaign released a scathing statement and held a subsequent news conference criticizing the president. "When a candidate jumps the gun before he knows anything that happened, criticized the U.S. in the middle of a crisis, that demonstrates a lack of competence," she said.

"[You] Can't jump to conclusions before you have all the information and... Mitt Romney has done that," Granholm added.

Previewing Monday night's debate, Davis said the candidate who is best able to convert the issue of foreign policy into an economic issue will prevail. "Every voter is going to vote with their check book," Davis reiterated.

Touching on the latest Quinnipiac/CBS News poll that shows Mitt Romney five points behind Mr. Obama in Ohio, Granholm and Davis argued about the significance of the poll. Granholm said the president's five-point lead and 15-point lead among women "bodes well for the president."

Davis, meanwhile, said that although the president is leading among early voters, he predicts the gap will close as Republicans say they are more enthusiastic to vote. "You're going to see some catch up," Davis said.

Granholm insists that the president's ground game is "second to none" and claims it will be a tough operation for Romney to beat in critical swing states.

Pointing again to lower enthusiasm recorded among Democrats throughout the campaign, "Ground game can't turn out people who don't want to vote," Davis argued.