Romney spoke of growing up during the Cold War — “a classic baby boomer,” he said — and practicing “duck and cover” drills in school. Today, he said, “our world is far more chaotic.
“We still face grave threats, but they come not from one country, or one group, or one ideology,” Romney said, adding later: “There is no one approach to these challenges. There is no wall that the next president can demand to be torn down. But there is one unifying thread that connects each of these threats: When America is strong, the world is safer.”
Romney said that while the World War II Greatest Generation’s “light fades, we must seize the torch they carried so gallantly at such great sacrifice. It is an eternal torch of decency, freedom and hope. It is not America’s torch alone. But it’s America’s duty and honor to hold it high enough that all the world can see its light.”
Romney hammered his contrast with Obama, taking not-so-subtle digs at the president. “I will never, ever apologize for America,” Romney said, drawing sustained applause from his supporters here.
But in a conference call with reporters, his advisers said there were some differences between Romney’s foreign affairs agenda and President George W. Bush’s policies. Asked where Romney’s plan differs from Bush’s record, they said Romney would focus more on Latin America with a plan for a public-diplomacy and trade promotion campaign there.
“Neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration really focused on Latin America,” said one adviser, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about Romney’s plan. “I think President Bush, in part because of Iraq and Afghanistan, wasn’t looking to our neighbors in our hemisphere.”
Democrats rebutted Romney’s statements, saying Obama has kept the nation safe while rooting out terrorist leaders, most prominently this spring’s killing of Osama bin Laden.
Following the speech, Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement, “Governor Romney raised real questions about his capacity to lead this country and wage the fight against terrorism. He didn’t outline a strategy to strengthen America’s security and promote our interests and didn’t even identify defeating al-Qaeda as a goal. President Obama has degraded al-Qaeda and dealt huge blows to its leadership, including eliminating Osama Bin Laden, ended the war in Iraq, promoted our security in Afghanistan while winding down our commitment in a responsible way and strengthened American leadership around the world.”
Priorities USA Action, a Democratic political action committee started by former Obama aides, released a tough Web video featuring footage of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in a 2008 presidential debate with Romney, questioning whether Romney has the “experience and judgement to lead this country in the war against radical Islamic extremism.”
Then, the narrator says: “Mitt Romney may have no experience fighting terror, but he does have some experience with foreign countries — sending our jobs to them.”
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