President Barack Obama returns to the University of Miami for his third visit Thursday, but this time there’s a new twist.
After a lackluster debate last week, Obama’s campaign is looking wobbly for the first time in months.
And he’s getting attacked at what used to be a strong point: Foreign policy.
House Republicans Wednesday held a special hearing into the terrorist attacks on a U.S. consulate in Libya on Sept. 11, when four diplomatic staffers were killed.
Amid the four grueling hours of testimony, Obama administration officials admitted they refused to beef up security before the attacks, and they made misleading statements about what probably caused the attacks.
Obama has steered clear of Libya in his standard stump speech, which more often includes his foreign-policy successes.
"Al Qaeda is on its heels and Osama bin Laden is no more," Obama said Monday in a speech. After today’s UM event, he’ll head to a JW Marriott Marquis fundraiser with his campaign’s national co-chair, actress Eva Longoria.
Obama has also stepped up his attacks on Republican Mitt Romney’s veracity, saying his opponent is “hiding” his record.
Democrats have also tried to portray the House Oversight and Government Reform committee hearings Wednesday as a political show, noting that a lead lawmaker Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, is a Romney surrogate.
Romney has been surging in national polls after winning last week’s debates. Romney’s improved national standing will likely be mirrored in polls in Florida, a must-win battleground state for Romney that reflects the nation. Until last week, Obama was nursing an inside-the-error margin lead over Romney in Florida and nationwide.
This is Obama’s fifth-straight appearance at a college campus, a sign he feels the need to get out a youth vote that helped him win office in 2008. Since then, polls indicate, young people are relatively less enthusiastic about voting for the Democrat.
After the debate, Obama began criticizing Romney for saying he wanted to cut public-broadcast money and thereby go after Big Bird on Sesame Street. Obama’s campaign has switched tacks more recently and called out Romney for recent statements that seemed to downplay his commitment to crack down on abortion, a topic he more frequently mentioned during the GOP primary.
Obama’s campaign also noted that, during the debate, Romney misrepresented his healthcare plan by saying it covers pre-existing conditions. It doesn’t.
But after Wednesday’s hearing, Republicans had enough evidence to accuse the president’s administration of concealing information about the Benghazi consulate attacks that killed an American ambassador and three foreign-service workers.
Just before the attack, the administration had drawn down security forces in Benghazi and they denied requests to beef it up, said Andrew Wood, a former special forces lieutenant colonel who led a Libya-security team.
Wood, testifying Wednesday, said he recommended that the U.S. close the Benghazi mission as violent attacks increased. Wood also said other Western nation’s had withdrawn.
“We were the last flag flying in Benghazi,” Wood said. “I urged them to do something, anything to include withdrawal from Benghazi, although I knew that was impossible."
After a lackluster debate last week, Obama’s campaign is looking wobbly for the first time in months.
And he’s getting attacked at what used to be a strong point: Foreign policy.
House Republicans Wednesday held a special hearing into the terrorist attacks on a U.S. consulate in Libya on Sept. 11, when four diplomatic staffers were killed.
Amid the four grueling hours of testimony, Obama administration officials admitted they refused to beef up security before the attacks, and they made misleading statements about what probably caused the attacks.
Obama has steered clear of Libya in his standard stump speech, which more often includes his foreign-policy successes.
"Al Qaeda is on its heels and Osama bin Laden is no more," Obama said Monday in a speech. After today’s UM event, he’ll head to a JW Marriott Marquis fundraiser with his campaign’s national co-chair, actress Eva Longoria.
Obama has also stepped up his attacks on Republican Mitt Romney’s veracity, saying his opponent is “hiding” his record.
Democrats have also tried to portray the House Oversight and Government Reform committee hearings Wednesday as a political show, noting that a lead lawmaker Utah Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, is a Romney surrogate.
Romney has been surging in national polls after winning last week’s debates. Romney’s improved national standing will likely be mirrored in polls in Florida, a must-win battleground state for Romney that reflects the nation. Until last week, Obama was nursing an inside-the-error margin lead over Romney in Florida and nationwide.
This is Obama’s fifth-straight appearance at a college campus, a sign he feels the need to get out a youth vote that helped him win office in 2008. Since then, polls indicate, young people are relatively less enthusiastic about voting for the Democrat.
After the debate, Obama began criticizing Romney for saying he wanted to cut public-broadcast money and thereby go after Big Bird on Sesame Street. Obama’s campaign has switched tacks more recently and called out Romney for recent statements that seemed to downplay his commitment to crack down on abortion, a topic he more frequently mentioned during the GOP primary.
Obama’s campaign also noted that, during the debate, Romney misrepresented his healthcare plan by saying it covers pre-existing conditions. It doesn’t.
But after Wednesday’s hearing, Republicans had enough evidence to accuse the president’s administration of concealing information about the Benghazi consulate attacks that killed an American ambassador and three foreign-service workers.
Just before the attack, the administration had drawn down security forces in Benghazi and they denied requests to beef it up, said Andrew Wood, a former special forces lieutenant colonel who led a Libya-security team.
Wood, testifying Wednesday, said he recommended that the U.S. close the Benghazi mission as violent attacks increased. Wood also said other Western nation’s had withdrawn.
“We were the last flag flying in Benghazi,” Wood said. “I urged them to do something, anything to include withdrawal from Benghazi, although I knew that was impossible."