As Americans mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks today, President Obama and Mitt Romney will pause from slinging mud on the airwaves by temporarily pulling their largely negative campaign commercials off TV .
But politics -- and who best can handle the job as commander in chief -- won't be too far away in the minds of some voters as Obama and his Republican rival mark the 11th anniversary of the terrorist attacks.
Obama will hold a moment of silence at the White House and attend a memorial service at the Pentagon honoring 9/11 victims. Romney will be in Reno this afternoon, speaking to nearly 4,000 National Guard officers.
While Americans prefer Romney to handle the economy and deficit, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken before the Republican and Democratic conventions found Obama has the advantage on handling foreign affairs.
That edge is probably not unexpected for an incumbent. Yet Obama and his allies have sought to remind voters that the president gave the order to take down Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Democrats also have stressed recently that Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, have little foreign policy experience.
In his speech last week to the American Legion, Romney criticized Obama for automatic spending cuts to the defense budget that were part of the deal last year between the White House and Congress to raise the nation's debt limit.
Ryan defended the GOP ticket's readiness Sunday on ABC's This Week and noted that Obama's foreign policy record has weak spots. naming the president's dealings with Iran and its nuclear ambitions as one of those areas.
