Mitt Romney escalated his attacks on President Barack Obama’s foreign policy today, saying the administration is “at the mercy” of events in the Middle East.
Speaking to voters in Pueblo, Colorado, the Republican presidential candidate said Obama has mismanaged political developments in the region, including the death of the American ambassador in Libya.
“These are not bumps in the road; these are human lives,” he said, keying on a phrase the president used in an interview broadcast yesterday. “This is time for a president who will shape events in the Middle East.”
Romney’s new attack comes as his campaign struggles to stem criticism from other Republicans about recent political setbacks -- most prominently the release of a secretly recorded video in which he disparaged almost half of U.S. voters. The former Massachusetts governor is under pressure to intensify his efforts to close what polls have shown is a lead for Obama in a number of swing states.
Senior Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said today the campaign intends to draw sharper contrasts between the Republican’s policies and those of Obama, and move more quickly to respond to the news of the day.
This afternoon, Romney was reacting to comments made by Obama in an interview with “60 Minutes” yesterday, where president said it was clear there would be “bumps in the road” for Arab countries transitioning to democracy.
[h=2]‘Bumps in the Road’[/h]“I was pretty certain, and continue to be pretty certain, that there are going to be bumps in the road because, in a lot of these places the one organizing principle has been Islam,” Obama said.
“There are strains of extremism and anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiments” that “can be tapped into by demagogues,” the president said, adding that “I do think that over the long term we are more likely to get a Middle East and North Africa that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more aligned with our interests.”
“Um, bumps in the road?” Romney told more than 1,500 people at the outdoor rally in Pueblo. “We had an ambassador assassinated, we had a Muslim Brotherhood member elected to the presidency of Egypt, 20,000 people have been killed in Syria, we have tumult in Pakistan, and, of course, Iran is that much closer to having the capacity to build a nuclear weapon.”
[h=2]Democrats Respond[/h]Democrats said Romney’s attack on Obama today is “reckless” and took the president’s remarks out of context.
“There is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to find political advantage, and in this case that’s profoundly offensive,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Obama traveled to New York to attend a reception tonight for world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. In a speech he will give to the gathering tomorrow, Obama plans to stress his commitment to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. He will also condemn a recent video that sparked protests across the Arab world as well as the violence that followed, according to Carney.
His two-day trip to New York has drawn criticism from Republicans. Obama, who this afternoon was taping an appearance on the daytime talk show “The View” and tomorrow will also address the Clinton Global Initiative, hasn’t announced plans for private meetings with world leaders.
[h=2]Clinton Group[/h]Romney, too, travels to New York to deliver a speech tomorrow before former President Bill Clinton’s global initiative group, in which he will advocate more open trade policies and freer markets abroad.
Romney is seeking to re-energize his campaign by accelerating the pace of his public campaign and tenor of his attacks against Obama.
After complaints from fellow Republicans that Romney was spending too much time fundraising, the candidate is planning embark upon a bus tour in Ohio with running-mate Paul Ryan and hold events in Virginia later in the week.
“I’m going to make sure that people understand that this is a different direction for the nation,” Romney said today, in an interview with ABC News. “If they want the status quo, they can re-elect the person who has been leading us over the last four years.”
Like Romney, Ryan today assailed Obama’s management of political developments in the Middle East, drawing a comparison with the 1979 taking of American hostages in Iran during Democrat Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
[h=2]Tank Project[/h]At a campaign stop in Lima, Ohio, the congressman from Wisconsin, criticized Obama for cuts to military projects such as the Army’s Abrams battle tank, which is built in that city. The Army is planning to temporarily suspend the production of the most advanced version of that tank to save money. Also, the Pentagon faces about $500 billion in automatic cuts over a decade if the White House and Congress don’t agree on ways to reduce the deficit by the beginning of 2013.
Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, told supporters that the tank plant would be shut down “over budget gimmick.”
Obama’s approval rating on foreign policy has fallen since the attacks on U.S. missions in Egypt, Libya, and other Muslim countries. A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC News from Sept. 12-16 found that 49 percent approved of Obama’s job performance on international affairs -- a 5-point percentage drop since the month before.
Obama raised the prospect yesterday that Romney might want to start another war in the Middle East.
“If Governor Romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so,” Obama said in the interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
In a separate interview for the CBS program, Romney said his threshold for committing combat troops for any conflict was a “high hurdle.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Pueblo, Colorado at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at [email protected]
Speaking to voters in Pueblo, Colorado, the Republican presidential candidate said Obama has mismanaged political developments in the region, including the death of the American ambassador in Libya.
“These are not bumps in the road; these are human lives,” he said, keying on a phrase the president used in an interview broadcast yesterday. “This is time for a president who will shape events in the Middle East.”
Romney’s new attack comes as his campaign struggles to stem criticism from other Republicans about recent political setbacks -- most prominently the release of a secretly recorded video in which he disparaged almost half of U.S. voters. The former Massachusetts governor is under pressure to intensify his efforts to close what polls have shown is a lead for Obama in a number of swing states.
Senior Romney adviser Ed Gillespie said today the campaign intends to draw sharper contrasts between the Republican’s policies and those of Obama, and move more quickly to respond to the news of the day.
This afternoon, Romney was reacting to comments made by Obama in an interview with “60 Minutes” yesterday, where president said it was clear there would be “bumps in the road” for Arab countries transitioning to democracy.
[h=2]‘Bumps in the Road’[/h]“I was pretty certain, and continue to be pretty certain, that there are going to be bumps in the road because, in a lot of these places the one organizing principle has been Islam,” Obama said.
“There are strains of extremism and anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiments” that “can be tapped into by demagogues,” the president said, adding that “I do think that over the long term we are more likely to get a Middle East and North Africa that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more aligned with our interests.”
“Um, bumps in the road?” Romney told more than 1,500 people at the outdoor rally in Pueblo. “We had an ambassador assassinated, we had a Muslim Brotherhood member elected to the presidency of Egypt, 20,000 people have been killed in Syria, we have tumult in Pakistan, and, of course, Iran is that much closer to having the capacity to build a nuclear weapon.”
[h=2]Democrats Respond[/h]Democrats said Romney’s attack on Obama today is “reckless” and took the president’s remarks out of context.
“There is a certain rather desperate attempt to grasp at words and phrases here to find political advantage, and in this case that’s profoundly offensive,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
Obama traveled to New York to attend a reception tonight for world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly. In a speech he will give to the gathering tomorrow, Obama plans to stress his commitment to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. He will also condemn a recent video that sparked protests across the Arab world as well as the violence that followed, according to Carney.
His two-day trip to New York has drawn criticism from Republicans. Obama, who this afternoon was taping an appearance on the daytime talk show “The View” and tomorrow will also address the Clinton Global Initiative, hasn’t announced plans for private meetings with world leaders.
[h=2]Clinton Group[/h]Romney, too, travels to New York to deliver a speech tomorrow before former President Bill Clinton’s global initiative group, in which he will advocate more open trade policies and freer markets abroad.
Romney is seeking to re-energize his campaign by accelerating the pace of his public campaign and tenor of his attacks against Obama.
After complaints from fellow Republicans that Romney was spending too much time fundraising, the candidate is planning embark upon a bus tour in Ohio with running-mate Paul Ryan and hold events in Virginia later in the week.
“I’m going to make sure that people understand that this is a different direction for the nation,” Romney said today, in an interview with ABC News. “If they want the status quo, they can re-elect the person who has been leading us over the last four years.”
Like Romney, Ryan today assailed Obama’s management of political developments in the Middle East, drawing a comparison with the 1979 taking of American hostages in Iran during Democrat Jimmy Carter’s presidency.
[h=2]Tank Project[/h]At a campaign stop in Lima, Ohio, the congressman from Wisconsin, criticized Obama for cuts to military projects such as the Army’s Abrams battle tank, which is built in that city. The Army is planning to temporarily suspend the production of the most advanced version of that tank to save money. Also, the Pentagon faces about $500 billion in automatic cuts over a decade if the White House and Congress don’t agree on ways to reduce the deficit by the beginning of 2013.
Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, told supporters that the tank plant would be shut down “over budget gimmick.”
Obama’s approval rating on foreign policy has fallen since the attacks on U.S. missions in Egypt, Libya, and other Muslim countries. A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal/NBC News from Sept. 12-16 found that 49 percent approved of Obama’s job performance on international affairs -- a 5-point percentage drop since the month before.
Obama raised the prospect yesterday that Romney might want to start another war in the Middle East.
“If Governor Romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so,” Obama said in the interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
In a separate interview for the CBS program, Romney said his threshold for committing combat troops for any conflict was a “high hurdle.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Lisa Lerer in Pueblo, Colorado at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeanne Cummings at [email protected]