US election 2012: It’s not just the gaffes – Romney’s foreign policy vacuum …

“Kiss my ass,” shouted the Romney spokesman. “This is a holy
site for the Polish people. Show some respect.”

Martin Scorsese couldn’t have written better dialogue.

After a while, the unrelentingly awkward news from the foreign tour that
drifted across the Atlantic Ocean had the feeling of a media pile-on. There
were in fact a few dignified moments spread among the chaos – earning the
endorsement of Lech Walesa is an unquestionable honour, even if his old
union Solidarity turned around and endorsed Obama.

And the fact that Romney got mocked by the Prime Minister and Mayor of London
is unlikely to sway many votes at home.

The real scandal, however, is that the Romney campaign unwittingly aided and
abetted the negative coverage by avoiding foreign policy substance while on
his foreign policy tour.

When CNN’s Piers Morgan asked Romney how his foreign policy as president would
be different from the last President Bush, here’s what Mitt said: “Well,
first, I have to note that as tradition for our nation, I, being on foreign
soil, avoid speaking about a new foreign policy or my foreign policy or
doing that in a place that would in any way detract from the president’s
effort to pursue his own foreign policy. So I really can’t… I can’t go
down that path.”

There is indeed an honourable tradition of not criticising an American
president while travelling abroad. But that does not extend to refusing to
articulate your own foreign policy vision. Unless it amounts to a tacit
admission that your foreign policy to date is essentially negative – a
sustained attack on President Obama without offering specific solutions.

And therein lies the rub. Mitt Romney’s strategy has been to attack and
distract, offering an essentially policy-free presidential campaign.
Romney’s rhetoric offers strong contrasts, accusing Obama of being hell-bent
on weakening the United States while apologising for it every chance

You can read the rest of this article at:: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/mitt-romney/9451771/US-election-2012-Its-not-just-the-gaffes-Romneys-foreign-policy-vacuum-leaves-lasting-damage.html

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Posted by RobertButler on Aug 4 2012. Filed under 2012 Presidential Campaign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry