One event, two candidates, two receptions

Romney’s, Obama’s policy talks draw different reactions

NEW YORK GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney assailed President Obama’s leadership on foreign policy issues on Tuesday, while drawing broad outlines of what his international engagement would look like if he wins his bid for the White House.

Romney’s speech to the Clinton Global Initiative, a collaboration of CEOs and leaders of non-governmental organizations spearheaded by former president Bill Clinton, came before Obama’s addresses to both the United Nations General Assembly and the Clinton group.

In his remarks, which were met with polite applause, Romney looked to bolster his image as someone ready on Day One to serve as commander in chief, while noting a series of recent setbacks to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East under Obama’s watch.

“Syria has witnessed the killing of tens of thousands. . . . Our ambassador to Libya was assassinated in a terrorist attack,” he said. “And Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons capability. We feel that we are at the mercy of events, rather than shaping events.”

Obama used his remarks to address new initiatives his administration is launching to crack down on human trafficking, a scourge he said has led to 20 million people living in conditions that amount to slavery. He made no reference to Romney — and received longer and more sustained applause than Romney did at the conclusion of his speech.

Romney outlined plans to rework the U.S. foreign aid system by tying development money to requirements that countries allow U.S. investment and remove trade barriers. Foreign aid would be shaped into “an assistance program that helps unleash free enterprise (that) creates enduring prosperity.”

“We should do it because it’s the right moral course to help others,” Romney said. “But it is also economically the smart thing to do.”

Romney was introduced by Clinton, who has been one of the president’s most effective surrogates on the campaign trail.

Romney seemed to take being on Obama’s turf in stride. He joked after Clinton’s introduction that he hoped to get the same sort of bounce in the polls Obama enjoyed after Clinton addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte this month.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned this election season, it’s that a few words from Bill Clinton can do any man a lot of good,” he said. “After that introduction, I guess all I have to do is wait a day or two for the bounce.”

Before Obama’s turn at the podium, Clinton heaped praise on the president and joked he was “going to finish that speech I started in Charlotte.”

Obama responded, tongue firmly in cheek, “I have to admit, I really did like the speech a few weeks ago a little bit better.”