WASHINGTON – At Monday night’s third and final presidential debate, US President
Barack Obama began his closing statement by resurrecting his predecessor, George
W. Bush, to make the case for himself over his opponent, former
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
“Over the last four years, we’ve made
real progress digging our way out of policies that gave us two prolonged wars, record deficits, and the worst economic crisis
since the Great Depression,” Obama said.
“Governor Romney wants to take
us back to those policies: a foreign policy that’s wrong and reckless; economic
policies that won’t create jobs, won’t reduce our deficit,” he said. It might
have been a different decade when Bush was in office, but his legacy for the
country – and more relevantly, the Republican party – still looms
large.
And it’s a major issue for many undecided voters who are
dissatisfied with Obama and might be willing to give Romney a look, but are
concerned he would be another version of Bush. A question from audience member
Susan Katz in the second debate summed up the concern.
“I’m disappointed
with the lack of progress I’ve seen in the last four years. However, I do
attribute much of America’s economic and international problems to the failings
and missteps of the Bush administration,” she said, addressing Romney. “Since
both you and President Bush are Republicans, I fear a return to the policies of
those years should you win this election.
What is the biggest difference
between you and George W. Bush?” Though Obama didn’t bring up Bush until
the end of Monday’s debate, the only one to focus on foreign policy, it was Mitt
Romney’s mission from the beginning to communicate that his presidency would not
mimic George W. Bush’s, including policies in the Middle East that have become
unpopular.
Sure, Romney also had to pass a leadership threshold to
convince voters that he could be trusted on matters of national
security.
(The results of a flash CNN poll suggest he did. Sixty percent
of those interviewed immediately after watching the debate said he could handle
the responsibility of being commander- in-chief, the same number that found him
to be a credible leader. CNN noted the sample slightly over-represented
Republicans when it announced the findings.) But that wasn’t the only hurdle,
which is why Romney focused so much on making remarks sounding moderate, or even
dovish.
“By doing a very surprising thing, by coming at Obama
occasionally from his left, to say we’re not going to kill our way out of this,
he avoided that trap of being the warmonger,” CNN political analyst David Gergen
said following the debate. “I think he did that very successfully, and I think
he came across as a responsible sounding commander- in-chief.” Gergen was
referring to Romney’s comment commending Obama for ridding the world of Osama
bin Laden, but arguing that wasn’t sufficient to end the threat of Islamic
terror.
“We can’t kill our way out of this mess,” Romney said. “We’re
going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy to help
the world of Islam and other parts of the world reject this radical, violent
extremism.”
Romney’s own final statement emphasized the importance of
keeping the peace: “I want to see growing peace in this country.
It’s our
objective. We have an opportunity to have real leadership. America is going to
have that kind of leadership and continue to promote principles of peace.” And
on policy grounds he avoided striking a strident note.
When moderator Bob
Schieffer of CBS asked what he would do if the situation on the ground raised
questions about the plan to withdraw US soldiers from Afghanistan, Romney said
the US would “make sure we bring our troops out by the end of 2014.” That was a
more definitive stance in favor of a timed withdrawal than he has taken in the
past.
On Syria, Romney ruled out military involvement; on ending Islamic
extremism, he talked about the findings of a UN report calling for more economic
development, gender equality and civil society.
And then there was Iran,
where Romney stressed, “Of course, a military action is the last resort. It is
something one would only – only consider if all of the other avenues had been
tried to their full extent.”
He described the US mission in Iran as one
to dissuade the country “through peaceful and diplomatic means” from acquiring a
nuclear weapon. Before any military action would come more sanctions and
diplomatic isolation.
Romney’s comments might not have pleased his base,
or reassured an Israeli public concerned that the world isn’t doing enough to
stop an Iranian nuclear weapon, but they probably did help dispel some of the
Bush aura.