Many seem to feel that President Obama’s rather passive approach simply couldn’t hold a candle to the unexpected heat of Mitt Romney’s performance during the presidential debate on Wednesday night. Now, it appears that Obama is shifting to a different game plan and going on the  fiery offense.

At a rally in Denver on Thursday, the President had this to say about his opponent:

It couldn’t have been the real Mitt Romney [at the debate] because the real Mitt Romney has been running around the country for the last year promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. But the fellow on stage last night said he didn’t know anything about that.

But what Romney undoubtedly does know is that his debate performance has brought a new energy to his campaign. In fact, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, the Republican candidate trailed behind the incumbent by six points before the debate. But after the debate, Romney managed to gain two percentage points, with 44% of likely voters supporting him. 

As the campaign trails of each respective candidate proceed, we can be certain that Romney and Obama will continue to feed the political fire needed to galvanize voters. But who, in the end, shall prevail?