This morning former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie joined the show to discuss why he believes foreign policy is the president’s Achilles heel. Gillespie co-wrote a new piece in Foreign Policy with Karl Rove on the issue, and the two outline how the GOP candidates can use this to their advantage.
Here’s how they begin:
First, the Republican nominee should adopt a confident, nationalist tone emphasizing American exceptionalism, expressing pride in the United States as a force for good in the world, and advocating for an America that is once again respected (and, in some quarters, feared) as the preeminent global power. Obama acts as if he sees the United States as a flawed giant, a mistake that voters already perceive. After all, this is the president who said, “I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” Voters also sense he is content to manage America’s decline to a status where the United States is just one country among many. As he put it, his is “a U.S. leadership that recognizes our limits.”
On the show today Gillespie noted that the killing of Osama bin Laden doesn’t indicate the president has a strong foreign policy.
“[Democrats] have one talking point on it that they cite over and over again, which is the death of Osama bin Laden. Happy about that or glad that it was the right decision by the president but that is not — that does not a foreign policy make. I do think that the critique here for this president shows he is very vulnerable on this issue area.” Watch the conversation below: So what do you think? Can the GOP make a convincing case that the president is weak when it comes to foreign policy? Or do you think the president has shown leadership on the issue?
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