GOP Foreign Policy Debate Reviews

George Wenschhof

Foreign policy has generally been a strength for the Republican Party. But, President Obama has taken it off the table as an 2012 issue with the death of Osama Bin Laden, the removal and subsequent death of Muammar Gaddafi, and the scheduled withdrawal of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

After watching the debate, which one of the Republican presidential hopefuls would you want taking the 3 AM phone call?

Throughout the debate, they battled among themselves on the use of waterboarding, as well as U.S. policies in regard to Israel, Iran and Iraq.

Huntsman gave the most reasonable answers, but continues to struggle for recognition. Romney was solid again appealing to the hardliners with a fear of Iran getting nuclear warheads if Obama remains President. Gingrich and Perry were close to Perry and Cain faltered as expected and the rest, well......

Michele Bachmann got off some of her one liners that leave you scratching your head. Now, her campaign is trying to make some headway by disclosing a email allegedly sent prior to the debate by CBS News which indicated Bachmann would receive few questions. TPM.com has more here.

As of now, polling data reflects voters are overwhelmingly supportive of President Obama in the area of foreign policy and national defense. Unless, a new international incident takes place, do not look to see foreign policy be an issue that will impact the outcome of the 2012 election.

The economy remains the number one concern for voters and Newt Gingrich may have struck a chord when he squeezed into the debate last night an idea of requiring those receiving unemployment to also receive re-training.

I support the training requirement, but would also add a public service employment component which would put the unemployed to work in the public service area. State and municipal government as well as nonprofits would benefit as a result.

Links, in no order of significance, to the early reviews below:

Roger Simon of Politico.com has his take here.

The NY Times here.

TheHill.com here.

Mark Halperin's take of Time.com is here.

The Washington Post here.

CNN.com here.

Stay tuned..... The Republican caucuses and primaries start in less than two months.

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