Mitt Romney faces challenges in convincing Americans he is the best candidate to handle foreign affairs, as a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows President Obama with an advantage over his GOP rival.More than half of Americans, or 52%, say Obama can better handle foreign policy concerns compared with 40% who choose the presumptive Republican nominee. The numbers are closer among registered voters, who give Obama a 4-point advantage.
Romney leaves Tuesday for England, Israel and Poland, which his campaign is billing as a "learn and listen" trip. He is expected to frame the foreign policy debate in his speech tomorrow to the Veteran of Foreign Wars meeting in Reno. Obama speaks to VFW today.
"Romney's main line of attack is 'I'm Mr. Tough Guy and I understand how to wield American power,' and he's attempted to portray Obama as less forceful on questions of American diplomacy," said Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"The problem is that's not where the American public is," Kupchan told USA TODAY. "The Obama administration generally gets high marks on security and Obama has turned around the landscape where Democrats are seen as weaker on national security and Republicans are stronger."
This will be Romney's first overseas trip in this campaign. Romney heads first to England, where he'll meet Thursday with Prime Minister David Cameron and other officials, and attend the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in London on Friday. He also plans to hold an event to tap American expatriates for campaign funds.
He then travels to Israel for meetings Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Palestinian Authority Primary Minister Salam Fayyad and other leaders. He'll also make a speech about Middle East policy.
Romney has been critical of Obama's handling of the U.S. relationship with Israel and of the administration's efforts to curb Iran's development of nuclear weapons.
"Hope is not a foreign policy," Romney told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in March. "The only thing respected by thugs and tyrants is our resolve, backed by our power and our readiness to use it."
Romney will cap his trip abroad with a visit to Poland next week at the invitation of former president Lech Walesa. He'll meet with President Bronislaw Komorowski and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.
The Poland visit will give Romney a chance to discuss U.S. relations with Russia. The Republican was criticized by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev for calling Russia the "No. 1 geopolitical foe" of the United States.
The USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of 1,030 adults was taken Thursday through Sunday. It has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points. There wer914 registered voters surveyed, with the same margin of error in that sample.
