President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney traded barbs in their foreign policy debate on Monday - but are they really so different?
Fareed Zakaria weighed in with post-debate analysis on CNN. Here's an edited transcript of some of that conversation with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
On differences between the candidates:
Romney in video clip: The greatest threat of all is Iran four years closer to a nuclear weapon. And we're going to have to recognize that we have to do as the president's done. I congratulate him on taking out Osama bin Laden and going after the leadership in al Qaeda, but we can't kill our way out of this mess.
Cooper: Are those the policies he would actually have in place as president? Do we know where he is? Because it didn't seem there was much difference. He seemed to be agreeing with President Obama an awful lot.
Zakaria: But I think David [Gergen's] point is exactly right. Romney actually, where he attacked Obama, attacked him from the left. He said: "You don't have enough of a civil society strategy. You don't have enough of an education strategy toward Islamic extremism. You're the cowboy."
What's strange here is this was a version of what Mitt Romney did in the first debate. Which is to say, Romney surprised Obama in the first debate by being more centrist: "I'm not going to do anything to raise the deficits, whatever you may have heard about my tax plan." Except this time Obama was ready...
Related: Q&A with Fareed: How different are the policies, really?
Cooper: Do you think [the debate] moved the needle in any direction?
Zakaria: I think it wasn't a debate as much as a discussion. Because, as I said, Romney agreed with Obama so much in a surprising way.
The one area where I wonder whether Obama gained an advantage is that he quite effectively pointed out that Romney was indecisive or had waffled on an issue. And he kept saying, "Being commander in chief, being president, is about being consistent. I said I'd do this when I started." I think that was probably the most effective line of attack that Obama had.
On China's reaction
Cooper: It was interesting to hear both candidates talking tough about China. The question is, what can they actually do down the road?
Zakaria: Well, it's interesting to get a sense of the Chinese reaction. I've talked to many Chinese, and they had always thought going into this campaign that they were going to like Romney. There are three things they love. He's an American businessman and they generally admire the American businessman. He's a Republican, and in general, over the last 30 or 40 years, the Chinese have thought the Republicans were the party of business, generally more free trade. And three, he organized the Olympics, and the Chinese also went through the Olympics [organization]. So it has been a rude surprise to them that Romney has been so tough.
And even in this debate, what you notice is this: In this version, Obama kept saying "look, they could be a partner, we want to cooperate with them." But Romney hammered away for the most part. This was the place where he softened his tone least. In most of the other areas, Benghazi, for example, it was almost a complete reversal. On China, he was softer but still pretty tough. So I imagine in Beijing they're very reluctantly coming to the conclusion that whatever America may want, they want continuity, not change.
On undecided voters
Cooper: It was interesting to see our focus group [of undecided voters] when asked if [the debate] had changed people's minds and if people had now kind of gone in their direction. It seemed like a majority of them raised their hands saying [the debate] had pushed them toward one direction or the other, but they didn't specify.
Zakaria: There's a very small sliver of people you're looking at. And you can even see the occasional chances that Romney took to distinguish himself [especially] directed at domestic politics.
So, for instance, Florida is very much in play. There are a lot of Jewish voters there, and Romney decided on Iran he was going to take one further step and say that he would indict Ahmadinejad, presumably for war crimes. I'm not sure how you can do that...But clearly that was a kind of rhetorical flourish directed at a very specific set of voters who he was trying to sway.
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Exactly how many years does it take to develop a nuclear weapon, and how does Romney know that Iran is 4 years closer?
"and how does Romney know that Iran is 4 years closer?"
because whatever date (if ever) Iran gets the bomb, it's still 4 years closer, since 4 years has passed since Obama took office.
It's a "what color is Washington's white horse" sort of statement.
Is it legal to use logic on the internet?
"because whatever date (if ever) Iran gets the bomb, it's still 4 years closer, since 4 years has passed since Obama took office.
It's a "what color is Washington's white horse" sort of statement."
no its not because in order to be 4 years closer progress needs to have been made. If it is 4 years later and no progress has been made then no, they are not 4 years closer to anything, just 4 years older.
Be it consensus or a good measure of agreement, neither candidate seems to want to unleash another US military intervention in the region, though both clearly would not rule out the use of force.
Iran isn't making a bomb. It took the USA 5 years to make a bomb. If Iran had really wanted to and were not afraid they would have made it by now.It has been years.
Most of the debate centered around how the President of the United states to be or is heed to Israels demand and name them king of the world and anyone who says otherwise is anti-semitic. romney just blamed China for taking a trillion dollar debt of the United States, Saudia arabia who haas over a trillion dollar of our debt , and yet israel our greatest ally?
Really name one thing Israel has done for the American people
Well, its simple. He came up with his assessment on Iran's nuclear progress the same way he figured out in his Mornom map that somehow Syria shares a border with Iran. This incompetent idiot of a troll doesn't even know geography but he wants to be commander-in-chief. Ludicrous! The only georgraphy Robmoney knows is the Cayman Island, Switzerland, the French Riviera, Monte Carlo, the Hamptons and China.
"This incompetent idiot of a troll doesn't even know geography but he wants to be commander-in-chief. Ludicrous!"
Two words: 57 states.
Lance, there's a difference. Obama obviously misspoke, and the error was not at the core of some argument he was making. Romney, though, has used this point before (and been debunked before), and he even elaborated on the idea by saying that Syria is Iran's gateway to the sea. He actually thinks that, and he bases parts of his discussion of the Iran-Syria relationship on that false belief.
I know that people have jumped on Romney excessively for poor word choices as well ("binders full of women"), but really, there's plenty to criticize Obama for besides the "57 states" slip. None of us speaks perfectly and error-free at all times.
When it comes to China, Romney's concern is the US decline and the rise of China in a new century in the Pacific region.
Were Romney be elected, he would have to depend on a bunch of advisors in foreign politics, because he's a novice in this field. If he listens to people like Robert Zoellick, than it's good, but if he gets people like John Bolton on board, bumpy years lie ahead of us.
On the campaign trail a few months ago, Romney said Russia is our "number one geopolitical foe." Then he reiterated his position during last night's debate. Well get a load of this...3 hours ago, a Russian space ship blasted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan enroute to the International Space Station with a three man crew which included two Russian and one American astronauts. Geopolitical foe? Let's face it, Mitt Robmoney doesn't know diddly squat. He should go back to Bain Capital and stick with what he does best which is to bankrupt companies for profit.
Study history idiot. in the late 70's when the Cold War was still on Americans and Russians were going to Skylab ...together. So your comment is totally meaningless. You obviously didn't listen to Romney's entire statement.
They are no closer than they were 14 years ago. When will people realize this is just another war Dick Cheney has wanted to start, even as the VP during the Bush years he was pushing to get the US to go to war with Iran.
In dunno gun control socialist. Did you plagiarize this story too?
O.K. I'll vote for Obama if you get this "know-it-all" utterly incompetent, plagiaristic, self-righteous Zakaria off CNN.
Please crawl back in to your stone. I don't think you have any credibility to talk about the author.
Lol. I must say Zakaria sounds pretty smart. I don't know if he knows it all but it seems like he does a thorough analysis. Don't hate the smarties..learn from them
Zakaria – if you type someone else's words and clain it to be your own, is that palgerism?
that was never proved...he was discharged of the allegation
I'm not sure that anything is "palgerism", because that's not a thing.
America could deal with Iran, either peacefully or by force.
But, the main problem of America is Jew. They caused toooooooooo much problems to America. They were being told before and they are not listening.
There are very big difernces between Jewish and Christians.
The Jewish Talmud promised to destroy Christians and Christianity.
That was may be another reason, Hitler hated them.
Go Obamney !
i mean
Go Rombama !
oh well– same thing.
That's just fun – thanks, akismet.
lol exactly. Everyone is all amped up over the fight between Coke and Pepsi. Both bought or brought to you locally by Goldman Sachs. I dare anyone to watch that debate again and do a shot everytime you here "here the governor and i agree" or "I actually agree with the president on this one".
Those sound like they could be anti-depressants, college cheers or new dances. LOL
This "debate" was meaningless. They both have the same views on foreign policy, so why not concentrate on domestic? One thing I disagree with both about is the drone strikes. If you want the muslim world to stop hating us then STOP KILLING INNOCENT MUSLIMS.
@Bill: Netanyahu has been saying Iran is 3-5 years away for the last20 years now. Romney is just using Netanyahu's figures.
But they don't agree on foreign policy. The questions were poorly framed and both candidates tried to shift focus toward domestic problems. If you ask Governor Romney about Obama's policy in Libya, he would claim that President Obama "lead from behind" by waiting around for the UN and Arab league. President Obama would claim he was "coalition building." That is a significant difference. President Obama is trying to improve relations with Russia to solve problems in Iran and Syria. Governor Romney says that Russia is a geopolitical foe playing Obama for a fool. These differences are significant.
Yes, yes America is just massacring innocent Muslims as a past time…yawn. The situation is a bit more complicated than that. But hey..that wouldn’t fit your narrow minded view now would it?
The situation is a lot more complicated than that but doesnt stop some people from trying to argue that terrorists attack the US because they are apparently 'jealous'
Absolutely– the religious fundamentalists who have taken over the public discourse in much of the Middle East are the core of the problem. (The loud minority of Christian fundamentalists in the US are a pain in the ass too, but it's not the same thing). However, can we agree that having our drones blow stuff up, often killing civilians, without even a formal declaration of war, might not be helping the situation either?
How about the Muslims we're after stop killing innocent Muslims? Are those Muslims hated by innocent Muslims? Or do they hate us anyway because we cause those Muslims to kill innocent Muslims? And if we stopped killing anything, would Muslims still hate us? Would we still be the Great Satan, deserving of a mass-destructive attack on our citizens?
Where are these innocent muslims you speak of?
The innocent Muslims of Syria who are busy killing each other? Or the ones busy killing our diplomats in Libya? Or the ones in Pakistan who just tried to assassinate a 14 yr old girl? Or the ones our nobel peace prize winning drone fleet commander is taking out in Yemen? Or the ones in Gaza who murdered the Fogel family in Itamar? Or the ones in Afganistan who are using our military personnel as taget practice? When SoS Clinton returns from shopping in Peru you should let her know the location of the Innocent Ones lest we inadvertly interfer with their collective innocence.
Conservative voters, are you enjoying "Moderate Mitt?"
You say he's just lying now, in order to get elected?
How do you know he wasn't lying in January, when he told you "I'm a severe conservative"
If Romney DOES win, a lot of people will be surprised when we finally find out who Romney really is.
And you may very well be among the most surprised, Mr. Conservative
The most important thing is that we know who he is not. He is not the guy who has had 4 years and done nothing more than blame the past (while saying "Forward")
Benghazi is the best example. The events happened and the administration said nothing. The intel pointed to terrorist action and the administration said nothing. Susan Rice went to the UN and blamed it on a video. Jon Stewart said "You guys need to get on the same page) so they finally accepted that it was a terrorist act. Then Joe Biden said they didn't know what was going on. Then the president said it was a terrorist act. Then Hillary took the blame. Then the president (at debate 2) said he said it was a terrorist act since day 1. Then the president went on Jon Stewart and said that as president he is responsible (even though the week prior Hillary said she was).
Seriously, this administration looks like a bunch of keystone cops.
The stock market has more than doubled, the job creation figures shifted more than a million a month to the positive, we are out of a war started by lies. If this is 4 years of nothing I'll have some more of it.
Mr. Conservative is often the most surprised. It comes from living in a fantasy land only to be reminded again and again the world is not what they want it to be and never was. But he has the memory of a gold fish so he sleeps soundly at night.
I know Ill be surprised if he is elected.
Interesting discussion last night. Obama was consistent as always and Romney seemed a bit lost at times. Romney changes his opinions a lot, what confuses the voters that are not really researching before voting. Regardless the discussion about foreign policy, I believe that Obama's plans to put America back to work and increase revenues for middle class families (and increasing tax for the rich), including more access to healthcare are great. Obama inherited a bad economy and some bad policies so 4 years is just not enough to come out of this mess. What the US needs right now is a realistic president that sees how the bottomline is struggling.
Then why did Senator Obama say he would own it and fix it within 4 years?
First rule in politics, know where the bodies are hidden.
Second rule in politics, NEVER COMMIT TO A DEFINITE TIMELINE.
are you saying Romney is wrong to clam that he will create 12mil jobs and all the other bogus claims he has been making\flip-flopping?
The point is that the candidates do not agree at all. Romney has been lying about what he actually believes in each of the three debates. In the first debate he lied about not cutting taxes for the very rich, in the second he lied about abortion and equal pay, in the third he lied about his neocon foreign policy. The idea is to lie about everything until he gets elected and only then show his true colors. The problem is that the media is letting him get away with it and the American Voter is too stupid to realize it.
It comes down to one thing. If there are more ignorant voters then intelligent and informed voters, Mitt has a chance to win and then once again all hell will break loose like during the Bush years. You want stability and gradual return to wealth and prosperity we got to go Obama's way. Period!
I found Governor Romney's condemnation of President Mubarak interesting. Governor Romney expressed regret that the US supported President Mubarak as long as we did. He almost seemed to be "apologizing for America."
I find it troubling that the only specific thing that Romney's has identified in his plan to cut the deficit is to cut funding for Big Bird with just 28 days out from Election Day. Right now, you've got a federal deficit, federal debt that's over 16 trillion dollars and Romney’s and Kevin’s plan to fix it in a responsible and balanced way is to cut funding for Big Bird. These idio&s have no idea how to bring the deficit in line in a responsible manner or create jobs.
It doesn’t matter how Romney and the Republican try to spin their policies, the American people know how disastrous those policies have been for this country, especially for the Middle Class and less fortunate.
Americans are not stupid. How can anyone even thing Romney’s policies will be better for this country. Romney and the Republicans policies from 2001 to 2008 brought this great nation to its knees, their policies caused the Great Recession, their policies wiped out almost 10,000,000 jobs as a direct result of the Great Recession, their policies wiped out retirement savings for tens of millions of Americans as a direct result to the Great Recession, their policies took a $1 trillion surplus to a $13 trillion deficit, their policies resulted in the decline in the percentage of Americans that are in the middle class, their policies resulted in tens of millions of Americans without healthcare, their policies resulted in millions of Americans losing their homes, their policies will be detrimental to Latinos and all other minorities, their policies will result in another war in the Middle East, and the list goes on.
No Americans in their right mind will believe that Romney/Ryan policies will be better for the Economy. The only way for anyone to think that is if they are suffering from total amnesia. People will remember what happened in 2007/2008 and the years leading up to the Great Recession. It was the exact same policies that Romney is advocating now that caused the Great Recession. We are not that dumb to think that these same policies that caused the Great Recession will somehow magically make the economy better.
I guess Romney/Ryan think we are all stupid and don’t know the truth and can’t remember the dark days of the great recession of 2007 and 2008 and the years leading up to it.
The choice is clear. Do we want to go back to the exact same policies (Romney/Ryan current policies) that brought America (this great Nation) to its knees or do we want to continue to build on the recovery.
You do realize that Big Bird is a 1%er right? Sesame workshop rakes in $50 million on their stuff. They don't need outside funding.
Romney only showed his ignorance regarding federal funding of public broadcasting. Federal funding provides only about 10% to 15% of public broadcasting's operating budget, the rest mostly made up by stations' fundraising campaigns. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting receives roughly .01% of the federal budget, or about $1.37 per American per year.
cna't have it both ways.......we whine when the candidate doesn't fulfill the promises that he made ( when it's actually Congress that makes the laws) and then we whine when the candidate says he'll set the goals and let Congress make the rules to fit it.
still not voting for either of them
"These idio&s have no idea how to bring the deficit in line in a responsible manner or create jobs."
Strangely enough, I've been saying this for the last 45 months.
Obama and Romney are not far apart on foreign policy. Romney did express real concerns that the U.S. was not going far enough in China, Iran, Libya, and Syria. And he expressed concerns about a weakening alliance under Obama with Israel. But the two were mostly on the same page.
The same cannot be said of either fiscal policy or social policy. The two are miles apart. And these are the reasons that Romney will win in two weeks in a contest that will not be nearly as close as the far left media is predicting. Obama has failed miserably on both of these fronts.
Having shown himself to be an Obama sycophant, Zakaria's opinion has become worthless. He should have stayed focused on international events and out of US politics–he's ruined any expectation of impartiality he may ever have had.
The thing his, if his assessment of Obama was negative, you'd have nothing to say. You would never say, "Oh Zakaria he's clearly a conservative..." The thing is, Fareed tells it like it is. The man makes incredibly good sense and if you can't see that well, then... I pity you...
If it's not clear from the fact we're still in Afghanistan, we bomb Pakistan on a regular basis, there still is a Guantanamo prison operating, and we bombed Libya, then perhaps this debate was what will clue people into the fact that Bush, Obama, and Romney just are not that far apart on foreign policy.
The opinions of these talking heads are just theirs and I don't think they reflect the opinions of more informed. I was dismayed after last night's debate two talking heads for the PBS David Brooks and Mark Shields thought that Mitt Romeny won the debate and he looked presidential. To many viewers of the debate Romney looked like a fish out of water and president Obama looked like commander-in-chief and presidential. Of course I am a supporter of president Obama.
They are not the same...Mitt just wants us to think they are so you wont feel so bad going to vote for what you know in your heart is wrong.
Dear Fareed Zakaria,
When the Chinese take interest , don’t you wonder?
Taiwan, American technology, easy trade opportunities, yeah they love the Republicans.
The whatever it take to make a buck Republicans . The short term thinking Republicans. The everything is groovy now Republicans. The George Bush wanted dead or alive WMD wild westerns.
Fareed Zakaria, “I've talked to many Chinese, and they had always thought going into this campaign that they were going to like Romney. There are three things they love. He's an American businessman and they generally admire the American businessman. He's a Republican, and in general, over the last 30 or 40 years, the Chinese have thought the Republicans were the party of business, generally more free trade.”
I remember reading, that the Chinese are long term thinkers. Well, why wouldn’t they want us to be the same?
Is this a Sun Tzu The Art of War thing?
From my vantage point, it seems Romney a.k.a Romesia is betting on the American short term memory thing.
Hey, I’m not showing my Taxes, they will forget about it.
Bain Capital, don’t worry about it.
Wall st and big business, what was that?
.. The great repression before Obama took office, did that happen?
Na, that’s all Obama. By the way, who's our vice President?
Are you getting my drift?
Mitt Romney said he'd create 12 million jobs by end of his first term. Sure enough, he'd create 12 million jobs long after the economy has already been stabilized thanks to the policies of the Obama administration. Furthermore, independent economists has already assessed that since the recovery is now in full swing, no matter who is in the White House, significant job growth is inevitable and the economy is poised to add millions of jobs by 2016. But while on the campaign trail, Romney has been telling voters that there are 23 million Americans unemployed and he has been saying that President Obama's policies are responsible for that statistic. That is ludicrous when we all know that the current unemployment statistic is due to the economic crisis the President inherited. But if Mitt is capable of creating 12 million jobs by end of his first term, then where does that leave the remaining 11 million Americans he'd leave unemployed after four years? That is bogus hypocrisy. Furthermore, with all Robmoney's so-called business experience and the fact that if elected, he wouldn't have inherited two wars and an economic crisis, I would have expected him to say he'd create 23 million jobs in four years. Ludicrous.
Then he says he knows how to fix the economy because he balanced the Olypic budget in Utah and the budget as governor of Massachusetts. But how do you equate balancing a state's budget or an Olympic budget to the budget of the United States? let's face it, there are no parallels whatsoever. Furthermore, Massachusetts didn't inherit two wars and an economic crisis. And while Romney likes to boast that democrats in the Massachusetts legislature encouraged bi-partisanship, its obvious he wasn't at a disadvantage like the President who had to deal with a divided congress where republicans have said for four years that they wanted the President and the country to fail. There's a BIG difference here. And by the way, talking about job growth, Massachusetts was 47 in job growth so if Robmoney couldn't create jobs in one state, how'd he create jobs in 50 states? Nonsense!
I believe Mitt should go back to Bain Capital and do what he does best which is bankrupt corporations for profit.
Obama/Biden 2012 by a LANDSLIDE. Don't believe those manipulated polls!
Finally a reasonable voice on CNN! CNN has published THREE (3) debate polls with an extra 10% of Repoops on the republican side, so obviously Obama starts out with a -10% on his side, yet CNN calls it "A SCIENTIFIC POLL". BS!. This time Romney, the moderate, showed up again and agreed on everything while trashing Obama on foreign policy on the campaign trail. Wake up America, Romney is a FLIP-FLOPPER that will say anything to anyone to get elected– NO CORE VALUE TO THE MAN.
Romney is a complete fake. The idea that he could become president fills me with dread, real dread.
Finally a reasonable voice on CNN! CNN has published THREE (3) debate polls with an extra 10% of Repoops on the republican side, so obviously Obama starts out with a -10% on his side, yet CNN calls it "A SCIENTIFIC POLL". BS!. This time Romney, the moderate, showed up again and agreed on everything while trashing Obama on foreign policy on the campaign trail. Wake up America, Romney is a FLIP-FLOPPER that will say anything to anyone to get elected– NO CORE VALUE TO THE MAN.
They didn't agree on the most important point – the role of the United States in the world. Obama's agenda wants to weaken this country and distribute it's wealth among the world, to level the playing field, which gives an opening to uprisings that harm our interests. Romney wants to strengthen our economy to protect our interests and assist the vulnerable and our allies, and in turn, strengthen our position in the world.
it would have been easy for romney to zing obama back last night...but thats not what he is, not what the country wants or needs...DESPITE THERE BEING SOME WIDE OPENING TO REALLY LET OBAMA HAVE IT...
yes, obama was cute with his zingers, but, as much as many americans like aggressive displays of alpha male stuff, america and washington are broken in terms of how they talk to one another, and THAT more than anything else stood out last night with obama being angry, arrogant, shallow and disrespectful of both romney and in general, of what americans have been screaming they want....more civility! mopre reaching across the aisle, not screaming across the aisle.
I really found obama angry and small last night. Yes, Romney was clearly trying to go after independants and he clearly stayed away from fights, but how can anyone excuse obama's disgraceful angry tone....it is UNACCEPTABLE.
"it would have been easy for romney to zing obama back last night...but thats not what he is, not what the country wants or needs"
oh please, when the roles were reversed in the first debate people like you were declaring romney as being in charge and looking all presidential....thats not what he is indeed, what bull.
see my comments below cedar boy...
"see my comments below cedar boy..."
nice and all but my comment still stands, when the role were reversed in the first debate people like you were cheering romney as looking presidential because of it.
I agree completely. When Romney is aggressive he's strong, when it's Obama, he's rude.
Totally agree!! Obama is the most dvisive president in history ! He lied in his closing statement looking into the camera that he will listen to us. Then why did he pass Obamacare? Most of the country didn't want it ! That's just the beginning – if he has four more years, we won't recognize this country. Counting on Romney/Ryan to pull this through.
Forget Obama and forget Romney. Sarah Palin is the only one who can heal and re-unify our country. She is the "right" kind of Christian and she will see to it that we all get more of the Baby Jesus in our daily lives. But first she must return to her motorhome and resume her cross country tour. She will have to visit cities both large and small, taking care to speak only to "real Americans", dispensing her sage advice and folksy, homespun common sense solutions. We can be a great nation once again if we all just follow the Palin Path. It is our only hope.
A very wise choice palintwit. Very insightful.
A Canadian point of view.of debate.
Dependence on foreign oil reduced by building a pipeline to tar sands? Canada is not part of the USA.
Build ties with South American because we have a language advantage? Strange comment from a right winger.
China is a currency manipulator? Canada USA manage currency by either printing more money or moving interest rates. About the same thing.
Armin
I won't go into the obvious...Romney wanted to look presidential, he did that. He wanted to remain calm, he did that. Obama was angry, condescending and petty.
Having said that, here are 3 quick things Romney could have retorted , quickly, in the heat of the battle, to throw obama off a little and to look a little less "wooden", but clearly, that wasnt his strategy.
1) outsourcing; when obama was saying how mitt owned shares in a chinese company, yatta yatta, Mitt might have said, mr president, you would do well to explain how your job czar, jeffrey immelt, who you personally appointed, who is ceo of GE, outsourced more jobs to china than any other ceo, and he's your job czar??
2) when obama at one point started to again say "get the tape, get the transcript" , Mitt could have easily said, sorry, candy's not here to help you tonight. (maybe it would have looked too biting to do that to the pres, but it would have been delicious!)
3) israel- when obama started to answer Romney about having visited israel as a senator, Romney might have said, yes, you visited as a senator when you needed a profile, especially with the friends you kept, but not as president, which was obviously a strategic decision given that you were right next door in egypt, turkey and saudia arabia...so obviously mr president it was not a distance issue and it was not a scheduling isssue, obviously it was a strategic choice you made. WHY did you make that choice? What was the thinking? What was your strategy to NOT visit your ally, you know, the one you SAY is your best ally in the region and your unshakeable ally..why did you CHOOSE, STRATEGICALLY, DELIBEATELY, not to visit israel while you were president???
in short, romney might have scored some cheap points, like obama went cheap, but that is not what american needs or wants. Kudos for romney for being the better man last night.
even if Obama was angry like you called it, is still good enough for me liar like Romney.
if anyone lied, it was obama...
outsourcing a romney problem? how about obama's own hand appointed jobs czar, ceo of GE jeffrey immelt outsourcing more jobs to china than any ceo or business in the US...
Israel? clearly obama is lying about his friendship to israel..if you havent seen that over 4 yrs, you're blind. The number of times obama has been outright rude to his "best friend"s democratically elected PM is unacceptable. want me to detail them? I can....His muslim outreach, which is and was a joke, was PREDICATED on putting sand in the relationship of the supposed best ally he has in the middle east...how stupid was that???? come on...obama lies on israel daily, and all for jewish votes...I mean, how pathetic is that??!! jews want his support, not his double talk.
whose idea was sequestration? gutting the military? it was the white house's brainchild...not congress and not romney.
where is a bloody budget from obama after 4 yrs??????? congress tabled several thought the first term, all of which were obstructed by obama's democratically held senate....and no counter offer from the white house...oh acrtually there was one, which received ZERO votes even in obama's own senate.....you call that honest from obama? its just lies so he can claim he was reaching out....what nonsense....
last night he said he has better relations with allies all over the world? not true at all...look at iran..sanctions there have so many weak cutouts built in PRECISELY because russia and china would not work with obama to stop iran or halt the BUTCHERY in syria....another obama lie...allies like him more? egyptians hate him...israelis dont trust him, poland and the czech republic dont trust him, georgia doesnt trust him, saudi arabia thinks hes naive, etc...etc...do you think its normal that ahmedinejad, chavez, castro and putin want obama to win??? I think its extrememly telling.
shall I go on?
Perhaps you missed the BBC poll of 21,000 people asking who'd they'd rather have as the US President.. 20 out of 21 countries said Obama. This wasn't Iran, Cuba and other unfriendly countries with leaders who wanted a weak president. These are our friends.
america's "friends" only want a weak president they can manipulate.
Or perhaps missed this quote:
“I can hardly remember a better period of American support and backing, and Israeli cooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around us,” the defense minister, Ehud Barak, said last year, “than what we have right now.”
ERIC ..You're funny....do you generally believe everything you hear?
you really think ehud barak likes or trusts obama? if you do, i've got a great bridge in brooklyn for sale...he says things so ninny's like you will parrot them....
UNINSTALLING OBAMA.....……………. █████████████▒▒▒ 90% complete.
If Romney agrees so much with Obama's foreign policy and the way he is handling it, why would anyone vote for Romney when we have a President with 4 years of experience who has lead us on this path?
read between the lines renegade...they have major differences on foreign policy...obama is weak and everyone knows it. romney was only moving to the center last night...smart move...but the truth is, obama's FP is totally weak and useless. The PROOF is in the pudding....the US is LESS popular under obama that it was before he took office..all polls show it.
Why is it that ahmedinejad, chavez, castro and putin all want obama to win? think about it....
Why is it a condition for the presidential candidate to unequivocally support israel? Is this a presidential race for america with Israel's blessing? Or is it that Israel is the only manufactured ally that US has?
gee, I dont know....why does obama then keep saying that israel is his BEST ally in the middle east and his friendship is UNWAVERING...these are obama's words...
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...where have I read this before?
LISTEN UP YA'LL, OR I'LL PUT YA'LL BACK IN CHAINS...lolllll
america's best friend in the world is israel...they help you tons in the middle east and have for decades helped you...they help you domestically more than just about any other immigrant group....jews are cool...smart, they donate to charity, philanthropy, endowments for education, they power your computers, medicines..etc...
israel is your best friend in a middle east that is downright ugly and mostly arabs who hate you...
just because the arabs want to dictate to america who they should support in the world, is it right for the america I know to give in to this extortion?
my god...this is just so silly...
obama is NOT a true friend to israel and if he gets a second term, war is going to engulf all of us in one way or another.
Ho hum,
When are you going to wake up from your slumber and smell the coffee. The world is not your day dream.... unless your body is infected with jewish genes.
I don't think Israel is our friend. All they want from us is billions ....
ciao
J...? The # 13?
They are stand by, POWERFUL VACUUM of American Tax payers and its Formulas, that has been kept secretly by founding Fathers, for Americas future.
J...? The bracket leg, stole many of Americas wealth.
If the past Twins buildings did not have # 13 on its floors or elevators, 9/11 won't happened.
J... is the causes of all bad issues America is facing now. J... brought too much problems to US.
It is time to say, let J... stands on its own feet.
I have seen it first hand on CNN over and over and over...
there should be an investigation of this highly UNETHICAL practice of CNN.
On this article, they are allowing all posts...but on so many other articles, they are 100% censoring and not allowing anti obama posts...
I find this VERY DISTURBING...ITS WHY SO MANY PEOPLE ARE TURNED OFF FROM CNN AND THE NYTIMES ETC...
Very proud of Romney's debate. Decent, knowledgeable, not – flashy, caring person, leader of a free world you can trust and rely on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry Zakaria, you can not help your man.
I think Romneys opening statement/answer in last nights debate was fantastic.
Q: How many illegal mexicans does it take to shingle a roof?
A: It depends how thin they're sliced.
eom
Q. How many Tea Party Patriots does it take to make Idiot Stew?
A. As many as you got.
Is an opinion article original, if you copy other peoples material and don't give them credit for it, Fareed ?
No. It's bipartisanship.
While Obama may have won on debate points, Romney scored major points with me. I agree with Romney on the Economy, Obama on healthcare and Romney on abortion/LGBT issues. However, the most important for me is Foriegn Affairs and Romney was trying to get into a war with Iran. Romney's peace message tells me that he doesn't want war. Now all Obama has left is ObamaCare. I really starting to rethink my decision now. Should I vote for Obama or Romney?
Translation: Romney is like a stray dog that wags its tail for anybody. He is an opportunistic politician.
No it is not a debate if they agree. Romney is a nut. Did you see how his wife guided him off the stage? Did you see how she went to his side and aided him as he stooped over to speak to people. Something is wrong with him. They type of man guides his woman, not the other way around. He was surly having some issues last night and it was not all about the debate material.
I agree – Freed Z needs to leave. He knows more about America than Romney does.
How can anyone trust romney when he changes his positions to appease his latest target audience?
He has no values.
obama changes his mind all the time...on israel he flat out just lies all the time....
he flip flopped on immigration, on gay marriage, on dont ask dont tell, on border control, on afghanistan...etc..etc..
obama is a flip flopper extraordinaire for votes...
That's because I make a RoMoney noise when I walk. Flippity Flop, Flippity Flop, Flippity Flop. Neeeeeeee!
It is The Economy, Mr. President. Your Economy, Mr. President. You built that.
He agree with him 2 times don't make it out like it was the whole debate Zakaria. They are totally 2 different men when it comes to the economy.
Romney made fool of himself, showed poor leadership qualities and always inconsistent and forgetful. What a reck... this must be hurting the GOP base now who paid for for this guy.. Now all he has to do is run more false and negtive ads paid for by rich boys club.
Why do people think that each side has to disagree on everything? This pointless practice of division is a waste of time. What Romney actually did was recognize that many gaps can be closed with simple dialogue–something Obama could not understand. When people agree, they get things done. Obama should learn from that–its how business works.
No, it's not a debate when they agree. And it's not a public service when a candidate moderates his policy proposals during a nationally televised debate without instantly being held accountable for it. If Gary Johnson had been included in these debates as the Libertarian presidential nominee, all Americans would have benefited from a livelier and more informative series of debates with far greater probative value.
And in related news..... 98% of CNN staffers think Obama won the third debate, compared to 2% who think Romney won.
PAKISTAN.....The New Gateway to Central Asia and Europe.
With a population of over 180 million most of whom are well educated, English speaking, entrepreneurial and a cultural and social fit with Central Asians...Pakistan will now become the new face and gateway to Central Asia and Europe. Pakistan will thus span this region and provide the impetus for growth, prosperity and unity among these countries. These are new and exciting times for Pakistanis who should now look forward to their new leadership role aligned with Central Asia and Europe rather than the Subcontinent. We wish them much success as they have sacrificed the most during the past 30 + years creating a new world order.
Romney had to agree with Obama's policies to not open the door to the widely accepted view that the neocons are not loved by the country.
The real question is are you journalist if you plagiarize
I've read that comment before, yet no citation?
iran is 20 years closer to making the bomb, or 60 years. how do you establish this time frame? btw, repubican administrations looked the other way which helped pakistan gain the nukes and missies because they still are cold-warriors.
Romney must be having a very hard time remembering where exactly he stands on issues. So the best for him is to parrot President Obama. In fact I would not have been surprised if he had endorsed him last night.
How about this? Obama is a president and Romney is vice president for the next 4 years.Le's how that work....
Was it a debate?
It does not fit the definition.
I saw and heard, professional Three Stooges political games.
The funny game was, "Horses and Bayonets". They are both comics.
What the laughters!!!
All I heard from the debate was, who is going to take it in their rear from Israel, who can please Israel the most, how many times can Israel interfere in our politics, how much more money can we give Israel, can we help Israel wipe out the entire middle east, and is Israel going to kiss us if we dont heed to their demands
I wish to touch on Obama's approach to foreign policy, which is realistically pragmatic and good for the American
people. His foreign policy will invite more friends and supporters around the world. America does not
have to spend unnecessarily on military expansion at this point. Nor should America be arrogant and
confrontational in dealing with the world. America is and will continue to be the greatest military power on earth.
What this nation needs to do is rebiuld its economic and cultural-educational strengths.
Actually.......they are very different.
Obama is subversive. Romney is NOT!
Obama is conducting secret conversations with Russia, and others, who are not friendly to the U.S. Romney is NOT!
Obama is sympathetic with Islamists. Romney is NOT!
Obama acted like a child, with stupid comments about Romney's understanding of the military, when Obama himself, demonstrated his own ignorance of the facts.
The differences are actually quite large, and quite significant, and those of us who are knowledgeable, know that, because we don't buy into the LIES and deception of the Democratic Party, and Obama specifically.
You know what, if we realy have a real alien threat from outer space, that will realy change the agenda. I hope the aliens would realy be green so that the costumesof red, white or black hatted actors would change. I've been hearing the same things every election year. Gets realy boring.
Debate is an old art of brain gymnastics. A good debater can argue both sides of the issue and do it one after another just as convincing. That's what they thought in ancient Roman academies. That was the start of marketing presentation. Just like selling refrigirators to the poles. Just like lawyers do nowadays at courts. Do you want your president to be such a person? However that is exactly what USA does to her president elects. Look into their programs rather than their ratings or scores.
Media debate analysis: A cruel joke on the American people. Some short thoughts at http://www.demadvisor.com/2012/10/media-debate-analysis-cruel-joke-on.html
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