President Obama trumpeted his foreign policy record Monday, telling a convention of military veterans that his administration has spearheaded a “new era of American leadership” that made the nation “safer and stronger and more respected in the world.”
“Because we’re leading around the world, people have a new attitude toward America,” Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars, or VFW, convention in Reno, Nev. “There’s more confidence in our leadership. We see it everywhere we go.”
Obama is gunning for military voters who historically favor Republicans but who are considered up for grabs in November, the first election since 1944 in which neither candidate served in the military.
Veterans make up just 7 percent of the U.S. population, but they have disproportionately large concentrations in several key battleground states like Virginia and North Carolina.
The president is hoping his foreign policy accomplishments — including the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden — will bolster his chances in those states.
“As you reflect on recent years, as we look ahead to the challenges we face as a nation and the leadership that’s required,” Obama said, “you don’t just have my words, you have my deeds. You have my track record.”
Obama’s remarks offered a preview of his main arguments against Republican challenger Mitt Romney on foreign policy: that Romney is inexperienced and lacks a clear military strategy.
“Some said that bringing our troops home last year [from Iraq] was a mistake,” Obama said, without mentioning Romney by name. “Well, when you’re commander in chief, you owe the troops a plan; you owe the country a plan — and that includes recognizing not just when to begin wars, but also how to end them.”
The president also sought to counter Republican criticisms that he has weakened the U.S. military through budget cuts.
“I’ve continued to make historic investments to keep our armed forces strong,” he said. “We’ve got the best-trained, best-led, best-equipped military in history.”
Republicans, Obama told the veterans, would sacrifice defense spending to fund tax cuts for the wealthy and are just “playing politics” with the military.
The Romney campaign countered that Obama’s first term has weakened the military and the nation.
“In no region of the world is our country’s influence any stronger than it was four years ago,” Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said. “President Obama has failed to restore our economy, is weakening our military with devastating defense cuts and has diminished our moral authority.”
Romney is scheduled to address the VFW convention Tuesday, on the eve of a six-day trip overseas during which he’ll emphasize his foreign policy plans — plans the Obama campaign is already deriding as vague, uninformed and potentially dangerous to U.S. security.
“We face a number of challenges going forward, and they can’t be faced with political talking points and platitudes and criticizing your opponent,” said Michele Flournoy, who was the highest-ranking woman ever at the Pentagon when she served as Obama’s former undersecretary of defense for policy. “They really require serious people with serious ideas and people who understand the complexity of the world we live in. Romney hasn’t really told us yet how we would confront these challenges.”
