Commander in Chief vs Campaigner in Confusion

Commander in Chief vs Campaigner in Confusion. That’s how John Kerry described the final debate. In all the commentary I’ve heard, no one stated it more plainly.

I also appreciated Matt Taibbi’s live-blog of the debate. Especially this quote from 9:47 pm…

“Romney’s presidential dream is going up in smoke before his eyes. He’s confused, and this foreign-policy subject is exactly wrong for his shifting-sands rhetorical strategy of late: the candidate in this debate wants to project stoic consistency, and he’s not doing that. On some questions he seems anxious to convince people that he’ll use force quickly, and on other questions he seems to be trying to say exactly the opposite. It’s rattling him and he’s stammering more than usual.”

Before the debate, Robert Reich wrote…

“My hope for tonight is that our president clearly and forcefully take credit for just about the best foreign policy, and foreign policy team, this country has had in decades.”

Then Reich went on to list some of the foreign policy accomplishments of President Obama and the team Obama selected…

-     found and killed Osama ben Laden

-     navigated the difficult and turbulent waters of the Arab Spring

-     isolated Iran and imposed crippling economic sanctions on this outlaw country

-     began a withdrawal from Iraq

-     cleared the way for withdrawal from Afghanistan

-     managed to encourage rebels in Syria without being drawn into another war

-     worked constructively to help Europe out of its bizarre austerity economics

-     maintained an open line to China, and even coaxed China to allow the yuan to appreciate

The drum beat toward another war is the rhythm that drives Romney’s robotic steps. Last night was about him pretending to not be the uninformed, unreasonable radical that we know him to be. At the beginning of the debate I tweeted…

For much of the debate, Romney pretended to agree with the President’s foreign policy. Unfortunately for him, he’s already shared his real views and voters find his positions reckless and wrong.  Most people remember the positions Romney has taken. They’ve watched the videos and read the articles where he is quoted. However, for people who suffer from Romnesia, here’s a tip: When Romney sounds like he’s making any kind of sense, he’s just parroting President Obama’s policies. Looking at how many of his foreign policy advisors are former Bush policy advisors should give you a sense of how reckless and wrong Romney can be.

Story by Lauren  Michelle Kinsey

Follow Lauren  @OHLMK