Mitt Romney’s overseas trip was designed to reassure voters — proving that a businessman candidate with no diplomatic experience could still play the role of statesman.
It was not a complete success.
While in Poland, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ignored shouted questions from reporters. Asked why Romney has taken just 3 questions from American reporters during the trip, traveling press secretary Rick Gorka said, "Shove it."
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Instead, Romney managed to offend at two of his three stops, angering British leaders in London and Palestinian leaders during a visit to Israel. For some observers, Romney’s unforced errors raised questions--instead of answering them--about the readiness of the candidate and his campaign team.
Now, Romney will return to the U.S. with a different job than he wanted. Instead of enjoying an afterglow from the trip, his next task will be to change the subject, possibly by announcing his pick for vice president.
“He kept tripping over the message,” said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Alterman added: “It felt like—for somebody who’s been campaigning for year—he’s still got a learning curve.”
On Tuesday, Romney had what might have been his most successful day of the trip, giving a stirring speech in Warsaw on the historical bonds and democratic ideals that bind America and Poland.
But even on that day, his famously well-oiled campaign had its own ugly moment. A spokesman told reporters to “Kiss my ass” and “Shove it” when they shouted questions at the candidate. The aide later apologized.
And Romney himself was still stuck trying to limit the damage from his remarks a day earlier.
Romney had seemed to suggest during a speech at a Jerusalem fundraiser that the economy of the Palestinian territories lagged behind Israel’s in part because of “culture.” The former Massachusetts governor said in a Fox News Channel interview Tuesday that he “did not speak about the Palestinian culture or the decisions made in their economy.”
“That’s an interesting topic that perhaps could deserve scholarly analysis, but I actually didn’t address that. Certainly don’t intend to address that during my campaign,” he said, according to a partial transcript released by Fox News Channel. “Instead, I will point out are that the choices a society makes have a profound impact on the economy and the vitality of that society.”
He called the media focus on his remarks an attempt by some to “divert from the fact that these last four years have been tough years for our country.”
Still, even one of Romney’s allies in the Senate said that the Jerusalem incident showed that Romney was still adjusting to the role of Republican front-runner.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said that Romney’s comments about “culture” in Israel missed important nuances about that region. He said that one Palestinian area, the West Bank, was growing quickly, while the Gaza Strip--controlled by the militant group Hamas--was stagnating.
Romney should have made that distinction clear, he said, instead of describing all Palestinians together.
“Words are important. I think you, as a candidate for president, you’ll soon understand that what you say is different,” Graham said. “That’s a good experience for him.”
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