Posted on 11/12/2011 4:10:02 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON: The Republican candidates seeking to replace US President Barack Obama face off Saturday in their first televised debate on foreign policy and are set to slam his handling of world affairs.
The issue can define a presidency but is unlikely to decide the November 2012 elections: US voters are focused foremost on the sour economy, and Obama earns far higher marks on terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq than on unemployment.
That won't stop Republicans from slamming the president on those issues, his handling of Iran's suspect nuclear program, his often tense relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or other matters.
Republicans hope that tarring Obama as an unreliable friend to staunch US ally Israel will energize their conservative Christian base and douse his support among Jewish voters, a key bloc in heavyweight states such as Florida.
The 90-minute debate at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, will be a high-stakes affair for some of the contenders seeking the party's nomination to take on the besieged incumbent.
Texas Governor Rick Perry is looking to redeem his faltering campaign after a cringe-inducing memory lapse in the last debate left him unable to recall the third of three government agencies he would try to abolish if elected.
Perry, a US Air Force veteran, has warned against "military adventurism" and raised eyebrows by envisioning sending US troops to Mexico to battle drug cartels and saying he would back an Israeli military strike on Iran.
Asked whether he would support such an attack "even if it started a war in the region," Perry told CNN: "We cannot allow that madman (Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) to get his hands on a nuclear weapon, because we know what he would do with it."
Former pizza chain boss Herman Cain, running neck-and-neck with erstwhile Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney at the front of the pack, has been battling revelations of sexual harassment charges made against him in the 1990s and the perception that he is ill-prepared to be commander-in-chief.
Cain warned in a recent PBS television interview that China was "a military threat" because it is "trying to develop nuclear capability" -- even though Beijing has had atomic weapons since the 1960s.
He also suggested he would be willing to trade prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for a US soldier taken hostage, then recanted, and derisively said he did not need to know who the president of "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan" was to lead the United States.
On Libya, Romney and former House speaker Newt Gingrich first criticized Obama for not involving the US military to protect civilians, then pirouetted to criticize him for doing exactly that.
And Wednesday's CNBC television debate on economic issues found none of the candidates especially sure-footed on the question of how to safeguard the already brittle US economy from Europe's crushing debt crisis.
Cain said he would "focus on the domestic (US) economy first," Romney vowed to resist "an effort to try and draw us in" to help Europe, which must "take care of their own problems."
Propping up Europe will only "prolong the agony," said Republican Representative Ron Paul, who called to "liquidate" sovereign debt, while former US China envoy Jon Huntsman worried about "contagion" of US banks seen as "too big to fail."
Former American ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, a staunch conservative who has not endorsed a candidate, told AFP the contenders have to explain the relationship between the US economy and national security.
"What is required here is describing how you advance American interests even though the economy is the top issue. The president has to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," he said.
"You can't have a strong national defense without a vigorous economy, but over the long run you can't have a strong economy without peace in the world. And that's what America has provided," he added.
Bolton also said the candidates should weigh in against "devastating" automatic cuts of $600 billion over 10 years if a special committee on reducing the US debt fails to agree on a $1.2 trillion deficit-cutting plan.
Democrats say they aren't worried about Republican assaults, noting high US public approval for withdrawing from Iraq and pointing to the US commando raid in May that killed Al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden as a sign of strength.
"The Republican candidates will be hard-pressed to find fault with the President's national security record, which is among the most successful in decades," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell.
"What is required here is describing how you advance American interests even though the economy is the top issue. The president has to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," he said.
"You can't have a strong national defense without a vigorous economy, but over the long run you can't have a strong economy without peace in the world. And that's what America has provided," he added."....
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...."“Energizing American Jobs and Security” is based on a simple premise: Make what Americans buy. Buy what Americans make. And sell it to the world. America is not forced to import vast resources from foreign nations, including those hostile to our interests. Importing energy resources is a policy choice our leaders have made. But increasing reliance on hostile sources of energy jeopardizes America’s national security and prevents economic recovery.
Today, unstable countries in the Middle East have the potential to cut off the spigot and do great damage to our economy. Our continued reliance on unstable and hostile countries for energy is as unnecessary as it is dangerous.
My “Energizing American Jobs and Security” plan will commence or expand energy exploration from the Atlantic coast to the western seas off Alaska. We will end the bureaucratic foot-dragging that has reduced offshore drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico by eighty percent. We will tap the full potential of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. We will unleash exploration in our Western states, which have the potential to produce more energy than what we import from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela, Columbia, Algeria, Nigeria and Russia combined."..... Rick Perry: Energizing American Jobs and Security
"Rick Perry believes that our nation is most secure when we have the strongest economy in the world. His first priority will be to get America’s economic engine running at full speed to restore our global economic leadership, and to ensure America has the resources needed to maintain a strong, modern defense. By the same token, we need to maintain our strong presence to defend our interests around the globe while we rebuild our economy at home.".... Rick Perry: Security
Q: What are the three most important foreign policy issues facing the U.S. today?
Rick Perry: “Having a strong economy so that we have the economic ability to have an impactful foreign policy.
We must be able to keep up with our research and -development capabilities in the military.
And our very important foreign policy position must be that our friends know we’ll be there for them, whether it’s Israel in the Middle East or Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or India in the sphere of influence where China is located.”
Any candidate that endorses nation building should be considered an automatic fail.
Gov. Perry's into U.S.A. recovery (building)!
Was she able to say this while keeping a straight face?
UT has a worse unemployment rate than IL?
BTW it seems that all these liberal talking-head moderated debates provide is ‘gotcha’ moments for use by Obama’s 2012 campaign team.
I’m not convinced that ‘debates’ are the best way to judge candidates for president. I’m not certain that these are even ‘debates’ at all.
Yeah but according to him, I’m “heartless.” No sale.
First question: Will you bow before the Saudi king like obuma did?
Tarring!
Oh my! LOL.
(((chuckle)))
The MSM, especially the foreign, anti-American MSM, consistently attack America and their peace through strength allies and smear free market conservatives with racist imagery, while ignoring Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize unworthiness (because he’s in campaign mode).
From left; Fort Hood commander U.S. Army Lt. General Robert Cone, First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry attend the attend a memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings, Nov. 10, 2009.
Obama wanted to apologize for the U.S. bombing of Japan but was rebuked so the next best thing in his "mind" was to grovel in front of their emperor for all the world to see.
Obama bows to China.
Obama bows to the Middle East.
Obama bonds with Hugo Chavez.
Rick Perry unveiled a succinct foreign policy doctrine at a New York City fundraiser Monday night, according to those in attendance.
“He said in a Perry presidency, the Perry Doctrine, would be standing with our allies,” said Myers Mermel, a real estate executive and the event’s host.
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2011/09/report-perry-unveils-foreign-p.html
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Perry has literally done worse each debate, which if you think about it, is quite a feat.
At least he’s taking it in stride and just laughing it off.
In any event, I wonder what he has planned for the audience this time?
I understand that you want to concentrate on one minute of a debate where honest brokers say he was very good --- until the "energy" flub. Go for it.
Beyond that ribbing, anything in the article you found interesting, outrageous -- anything you'd like to add about the other candidates, positions -- clear anything up??
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