Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Romney's foreign trip ends on a high note in Poland

At a library at the University of Warsaw in Poland, U.S. Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney spoke of 'freedom and justice.' Romney's stop in Poland was likely a way of appealing to Polish and Catholic voters. He returned to Boston Tuesday.?

By Maeve Reston and Seema Mehta,?Los Angeles Times (MCT) / August 1, 2012

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at the University of Warsaw Library in Warsaw, Poland.

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

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Mitt?Romney?wrapped up a bumpy three-country overseas tour on a high note Tuesday, meeting with?Poland?s?leaders, being warmly received by large crowds as he visited sacred sites and delivering a lofty speech about the persevering values that unite the nation and the United States.

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After days of bad headlines prompted by gaffes?Romney?made in England and Israel and criticism from foreign leaders, the final leg allowed?Romney?to both highlight foreign policy contrasts with President Barack Obama on issues such as missile defense and to court swing-state voters of Polish descent or the Catholic faith.

Emphasizing the deep ties of friendship between America and?Poland?and expressing his appreciation toPoland?for standing beside the U.S. in conflicts over many generations, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,?Romney?said he was inspired by ?the path of freedom tread by the people of?Poland.?

?Our nations belong to the great fellowship of democracies. We speak the same language of freedom and justice,? he said in a speech at the library of the University of Warsaw. ?I believe it is critical to stand by those who have stood by America. Solidarity was a great movement that freed a nation. And it is with solidarity that America and?Poland?face the future.?

The three nations that he visited ? England, Israel and?Poland?? were far apart on the map, he said, ?but for an American, you can?t get much closer to the ideals and convictions of my own country than you can in these places.?

The two-day visit to?Poland?was marred Tuesday when a?Romney?press aide cursed at reporters who shouted questions at?Romney?as he walked across a plaza to his car after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The aide later apologized.

But it was a far less consequential bit of negative publicity than the gaffes?Romney?made on the trip ? questioning Britain?s preparedness and excitement for the Olympic Games and musing during a fundraiser in Israel about how the economic disparities between neighboring countries, including Israel and the Palestinian areas, show the ?power? of ?culture.?

Democrats argued that the trip showed?Romney?was ill-prepared to represent the United States on the international stage.

?He both offended our closest ally and triggered a troubling reaction in the most sensitive region of the world,? senior Obama adviser Robert Gibbs told reporters. ?He certainly didn?t prove to anyone that he passed the commander-in-chief test.?

The?Romney?campaign insisted that the trip was a success, and that voters at home would not be concerned by any missteps.

?I think people understand that big elections are about big things. ... This is not a race that has been affected by small things at all. I think it means absolutely nothing to the people at home because it has no relevance to their life. It doesn?t matter,? said chief strategist Stuart Stevens. ?If the mayor of London is saying something. ... It?s not what people are looking for.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/1yqzChGbpq0/Romney-s-foreign-trip-ends-on-a-high-note-in-Poland

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