Voters, Republicans React to Romney's Middle East Response

The ongoing anti-American protests in the Middle East have thrust the issue of foreign policy into the forefront of the current presidential election. Republican candidate Mitt Romney spoke out against the White House's initial response to the violence against Americans in Libya and Egypt, according to Yahoo! News. How are voters and fellow Republicans grading Mitt Romney's ability to handle foreign policy in light of his comments?

* Tom Ridge, who served as Secretary of Homeland security under George W. Bush, disagreed with Romney's assessment of the White House response, stating, "I don't think President Obama sympathizes with those who attacked us. I don't think any American does."

* Former Republican candidate Jon Hunstman criticized Romney for his remarks about the White House handling of the violence. He stated that Romney's campaign missed an opportunity to "Step up and begin, not through immediate criticism, but begin to articulate their vision for the Middle East, in terms of how we begin putting some of these pieces back together again," according to Politico.

* A recent NBC Poll shows that Obama leads Romney among voters in the key battleground states of Florida, Ohio, and Virginia on the issue of foreign policy.

* Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan echoed Romney's criticism of President Obama's handling of the violence against Americans, telling attendees at the Value Voter Summit that, "Amid all these threats and dangers, what we do not see is steady, consistent American leadership."

* Sen. Jim DeMint showed his support for Romney, saying, "Governor Romney is absolutely right, there is no justification for these deadly attacks and we should never apologize for American freedom," according to The New York Daily News.

* Sarah Palin took to Facebook to add her criticism of President Obama, saying, "Apparently President Obama can't see Egypt and Libya from his house," and "How's that Arab Spring working out for us now?"

* President Obama's campaign saw a bump in poll numbers in the wake of Mitt Romney's remarks. According to Real Clear Politics, Obama leads in all of the major national polls except for one. Obama's average lead is three points over his opponent.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/voters-republicans-react-romneys-middle-east-response-162600911.html

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