Foreign policy at forefront is a Romney hurdle
By THOMAS BEAUMONT and STEVE PEOPLES, published September 14, 2012
With protests at U.S. embassies and four Americans dead, Mitt Romney is suddenly facing a presidential election focused on a foreign policy crisis he gambled wouldn't happen.
It did - and at a bad time for the GOP hopeful. Momentum in the race is on President Barack Obama's side and Republicans are fretting over the state of their nominee's campaign.
To shift the trajectory, Romney's plan boils down to this: Spend big money on TV and work harder.
It's unclear how long this round of Middle East unrest will last, and Romney's aides concede the former businessman may struggle to gain a political advantage should anti-American violence continue deep into the fall.
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Mitt Romney's missteps are getting scary
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The prospect of Mitt Romney as president is becoming a scary prospect as he works to convince us he'd be a disaster. The question is why? Having had one of the worst GOP conventions ever, Romney still careens from one misstep to another.
Eager to be commander in chief, he failed in his acceptance speech to mention the war in Afghanistan or pay homage to our troops, the first time a GOP presidential nominee has failed to salute the military in half a century.
As this egregious error forced conservatives and liberals to criticize Romney, he petulantly complained about being picked on for his choice of words. Actually, he forgot about Afghanistan and the military. (Perhaps because neither he nor his five healthy sons served?) Problem One: Romney is unable to admit he made a mistake.
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..................................................................................................................................Mitt Romney's Worst Week Ever: Three Explanations
By Francis Wilkinson Sep 14, 2012
Mitt Romney has been under siege this week, not just from reporters but from some fellow Republicans. His troubles have three main sources.
First, the candidate himself. One example suffices here: his perplexing failure, many years ago when he first decided to run for president, to move his fortune out of Switzerland and the Caribbean, two places synonymous with financial subterfuge, and invest it in Treasury bonds. Had he done so, Romney would have subsequently released to the world the most boring tax returns of the 2012 presidential field.
Henceforth, U.S. politics should have what we might call the Romney Rule: If you want high returns on your capital more than you want to be president, you'll probably end up working closer to Wall Street than Pennsylvania Avenue.
Second, the campaign itself. It has made some odd mistakes, including this week's hapless attack on President Barack Obama over violence in Egypt and Libya. The attack was bad form, displaying a naked opportunism. It was worse politics. As Foreign Policy blogger Dan Drezner tweeted Sept. 12:
What's so stupid about Romney's overeager response to Cairo/Benghazi is that had he held back, the press would have done his work for him.
In other words, without Romney going off half-cocked, focusing attention on his own mistakes, the news media would've instead been asking pointed questions of the Obama administration.
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..................................................................................................................................Republicans Troubled by Romney Remarks on Embassy Attacks
By Jack Kenny, published September 14, 2012
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney left some of his fellow Republicans and media allies troubled by his eagerness to condemn the Obama administration's response to Tuesday's anti-American demonstration in Egypt and the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other U.S. diplomats. Romney described an earlier statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Cairo as the administration's "first response" to the attack, characterizing the statement as "akin to an apology" for an anti-Muslim film that allegedly sparked the riots and an attempt to "sympathize" with the attackers.
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Romney Struggles To Find Foreign Policy Footing
By Alan Greenblatt, published September 14, 2012
Mitt Romney has sought to distinguish his views on foreign policy and the world from positions held by President Obama. So far, it hasn't gained him much traction.
The Republican presidential nominee has insisted that Obama has not done enough to promote America's values and interests, instead "apologizing" and appeasing the nation's enemies.
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