Jennifer Rubin Highlights Obama Foreign Policy Failure

[unregistered]

 

[mercury14]

Hey, you posted an article that doesn't falsely accuse Obama of apologizing for America. That's progress.

BOSTON (AP) - ... A new poll by The New York Times and CBS News found that Romney had lost his longstanding edge to Obama on who voters say is most likely to restore the economy and create jobs.

Uh oh.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Highlighting Jennifer Rubin's attempts to redefine the Romney campaign:

Jennifer Rubin (naturally) thinks the reason Mitt Romney is losing is that he can't get his message through the "media filter" put up by the evil liberal press (of which she is so not a member); however, she has a brilliant idea for how Romney can deal with this:

He can start with something he did earlier in the year and then inexplicably dropped: a major speech, once a week, on a single topic.... Give these speeches outside the Beltway, in the swing states.

Genius! For instance, he could be completely candid and forthcoming about his economic plans:

He and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) often talk about two visions, but there is a need to explain what voters' lives would be like in each of them. What does the economy look like under Obama's tax-hike scenario and what does it look like under Romney's tax-reform scenario? What does an energy worker get under Obama's scheme (complete with Environmental Protection Agency legislation, denial of the Keystone XL pipeline, etc.), and what does he get under Romney's push for North American energy independence? Simply saying that you have a different view and that the other guy's for more government really doesn't do it.

So Romney should spell out in detail exactly how life will be different for ordinary voters if he's president. Tell them the whole truth!

Well, not the whole truth:

That doesn't necessarily mean drowning the audience in minutiae. The press insists that Romney must tell us all the base broadeners in his tax plan. He's got good reason not to, according to aides. They believe they have offered as much detail as the Simpson-Bowles report and that providing more detail would unnecessarily constrict him from reaching a deal with Congress.

Oh. So Romney should "explain what voters' lives would be like" if he becomes president -- but, y'know, leave a little mystery. Voters should know about all the wonderful freedom-y, reform-y things they'll get, but if voters want to know about "base broadening" -- i.e., the collecting of more taxes from more ordinary Americans after the elimination or reduction of tax breaks for the middle class and less well off -- well, Mitt shouldn't spoil the surprise, right?

 

[mercury14]

Shame on Republicans for not pressuring their nominee to lay out his tax plan.

 

[miles]

Obama supporters have become excuse generators. They're like little children.

 

[RobDownSouth]

Obama supporters have become excuse generators. They're like little children.

Why not start your 215th thread with President Obama's name in the title to show everyone your righteous indignation?

 

[Sean Renaud]

Obama supporters have become excuse generators. They're like little children.

The Derp Levels have exceeded safe. I'm fairly certain it was Chicken Little not Little Chicken and that the problem wasn't excuse generation it was a whiner. All ships evacuate to minimum safe distance while I launch the iggy bomb. We may have consider miles being iggied but for now that is shelved the only important thing is getting you and your ships to safety.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

A lot of termed art in this thread...

 

[Adre]

They're like little children.

Honest, forthright, unjaded, unbiased, eager to learn. Why, thank you Miles.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Honest, forthright, unjaded, unbiased, eager to learn. Why, thank you Miles.

Have to be told what to drink and in what size...

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

miles, they actually might need to be Pampered™ like an Alzheimer's parent who just cannot remember anything past that last warm feeling...

 

[Adre]

Have to be told what to drink and in what size...

I'll have a Romney Koolaid, 16 oz. You know, the one that makes you believe he's not a northeastern liberal who will keep most of Obamacare.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I'll have a Romney Koolaid, 16 oz. You know, the one that makes you believe he's not a northeastern liberal who will keep most of Obamacare.

I'm an Obama voter.

Are you retarded or something?

 

[mercury14]

Romney is just so poorly equipped to take advantage of any foreign policy weakness in the administration.

 

[RobDownSouth]

I'm an Obama voter.

Funny how you routinely claim to be voting for President Obama, yet find fault in virtually every single one of his policies.

 

[miles]

miles, they actually might need to be Pampered™ like an Alzheimer's parent who just cannot remember anything past that last warm feeling...

At least babies learn.

 

[zipman]

Obama has it all well in hand, doesn't he?


Obama’s foreign policy vulnerability
By Jennifer Rubin

Mitt Romney is now on offense on foreign policy. In a campaign stop today he hit the basics of his foreign policy vision, which now seem more compelling after the last 48 hours.

What a difference a day makes. Romney and his campaign seem to understand they are uniquely positioned to attack President Obama on foreign policy and to make that one of the issues in the campaign.

The Boston number crunchers were convinced until this week that foreign policy was a loser for Romney. He’d look like a war-monger, or Obama would always play the Osama bin Laden trump card. All the polls showed national security was way, way down on the list.

But as often is the case, foreign policy has the habit of intruding into domestic politics and issues. When things go terribly wrong — embassies breached, diplomats killed, American flags burn — the American people perk up. Hey what’s going on? Who’s in charge?

To a large degree Obama brought this on himself. He frequently subordinated national security (on the budget, on the Afghanistan timeline) to domestic and electoral concerns. He presided over a leak-factory in which national security secrets flew out the door at a pace lawmakers from both parties say they’ve never seen. He did the victory dance again and again for the killing of Bin Laden, as if he had single-handedly won the war on terror. He chose to miss nearly half his security briefings.He chose to go to a Las Vegas campaign event on the same day he criticized his opponent for being too political. And it was on the flight to a destination he never should have been visiting at such a time that he made an obvious foreign policy flub, as Politico’s Byron Tauand others have reported.

Asked about Egypt he said, “I don’t think we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them to be an enemy.” Oh, good grief. Every freshman international relations student knows Egypt is an ally, with treaties and everything. The White House National Security Council spokesman tried to cover with some mumbo-jumbo that “‘ally’ is a term of art.” Yikes. Well, if that is how you want to put it, Egypt qualifies, term-of-art-wise.

The State Department was in no mood to cover for the hapless president. Asked if Egypt is an ally the State Department spokeswoman replied tersely, “Yes.” That might have been the best and most biting answer ever given from the State Department podium.

But the particulars of this crisis (the lack of embassy preparation, the president’s attendance at national security briefings) are only a small part of the issue. The real concern for the White House and the country is that there is no rhyme nor reason to our foreign policy. We manage to confuse friends and foes. We cut defense when threats grow. We surge in Afghanistan and then set a deadline. We say all options are on the table one day, and talk down the military option the next. The embassies might have well put “Kick me” signs on their gates.

Romney’s criticism, which are fairly standard fare in conservative circles, dates back for some time. The bullet points (peace through strength, be consistent, don’t offend allies, don’t think the U.N is a substitute for the U.S.) now seem remarkably apt. If they were self-evident before, Obama spinners would say derogatorily, they sure weren’t followed by this president. Most every decision (e.g. the withdrawal from Afghanistan) now can be seen in its proper light — the light in which the president should have been evaluating his foreign policy choices: Did this hurt or help America’s image? Did it promote respect from foes and confidence from allies?

Romney should certainly give a foreign policy speech, but it should not be a cookie cutter effort. He should explain his basic beliefs (e.g. peace through strength), show how Obama did something else (e.g. severely cut defense), explain the damage Obama did (e.g. signal weakness to adversaries, make us less able to project hard power, make soft power threats less credible) and tell us what he would do differently (e.g. prevent the sequestration, reform procurement). That is an important speech the American people deserve to hear. And we now know they’re listening, at least for a little while.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...f5b26b8-fddb-11e1-b153-218509a954e1_blog.html

I think it would be great if Mitt gave a speech about his views on foreign policy. However, he will have to actually say what he would do in these situations. Trite phrases like "peace through strength" aren't going to cut it. That's been the problem with his entire campaign. He's not saying anything of substance.

So far, his entire campaign has been playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It isn't working because people need to hear what he would do, not just what he wouldn't do.

 

[koalabear]

"Let the embassies burn, I have campaign dinners to attend!" Oblamer.

 

[unregistered]

 

[unregistered]

 

[Sean Renaud]

Fuck Israel, Iran, and their nukes, I have to head off to the Letterman Show.

first good plan I've heard from Vette.

 

[Adre]

first good plan I've heard from Vette.

I like it too. He's been holding out on us.

 

[unregistered]

 

[garbage can]

"Let the embassies burn, I have campaign dinners to attend!" Oblamer.

And Oh!! make sure our embassy Marines are unarmed. We wouldn't want to piss off our Muslim friends.

Okay, I'm off to a campaign dinner after my round of golf...

 

[Sean Renaud]

All the credit goes to your hero, Obummer.

I'm fine with that. I'd rather credit you and reach across the aisle but since you're so willing to admit that the only good idea is a democrat idea I'll live with it.