Romney’s week long trip across the pond was suppose to show us that if elected President of the United States he would be a capable foreign representative across the globe. However, his three stops all in areas with strong ties to the United States have been marred by gaffes, criticisms and insults. While Romney failed to prove he would be a leader that can delicately walk the line of international diplomacy it may not be an issue in this years election that is heavily focused on domestic issues.
To begin Romney managed to insult America’s closest allies the British before their Olympic debut questioning their readiness and excitement for the spectacle. Both Prime Minister Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson quickly and publicly made comments and took jabs comparing running the Olympics in a major metropolitan area compared to the “middle of nowhere”. While Romney backtracked on these comments of doubt and concern praising the UK’s preparations. Many high ranking cabinet members had already publicly stated that while they are conservatives, their hearts remain with Obama.
Then as Romney looked forward to starting fresh in Israel his strategy of pandering to wealthy donors caused him to make comments that both infuriated the Palestinians and had many Israelis questioning Romney’s knowledge of the overall complexity of the Israel, Palestine conflict. After flubbing the numbers concerning economic differences between Israel and Palestine Romney went on to credit “cultural superiority” for Israel’s flourishing economy compared with that of Palestinian territories. This outraged Palestinian leaders calling him both a racist and out of touch with the issues that affect Palestine’s economic woes such as Israel’s blockage of the West Bank.
In the final stop of Romney’s foreign tour he met with former Polish President Lech Walesa who is also the co-founder of the trade union Solidarity. While Walesa wished Romney every success Solidarity was quick to put out a statement saying that Walesa doesn’t speak for the trade union, and brought attention to the fact that Romney was anti-union and hostile to labor rights they then went on to restate their support for American workers rights.
Now as Romney returns back to the states many are wondering if his trip was worth it. While it was meant to highlight his foreign affairs expertise, while also gaining influence amongst Jewish voters and it seems like he could have done a better job of that by campaigning in crucial swing states. The GOP base has been saying from the beginning that it is about the economy, and Jewish voters agree in fact a 2008 poll found that out of 15 key issues Israel ranked 8th. While foreign policy is important it isn’t t nearly as vital as in 2008. This years election will center on domestic policy and who is more apt to handle it. But, for the meantime Romney has to concentrate on damage control backtracking on statements made abroad and removing the blemishes from his rocky foreign campaign efforts, which makes us question will the trip be worth it come November?
