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Young Voters Speak Out: Each day, RR.com will spotlight politically minded youth writers from throughout the U.S. speaking their minds on Election 2012. First-time voters, student journalists and new graduates will debate the Obama vs. Romney race to the White House. Young Democrats, Republicans and ‘Undecided’ Americans are eager to play politics and choose the next Commander & Chief.
Read Justin Tepper's thoughts from a left-leaning perspective:
Mitt Romney's recent overseas trip could not have gone any worse. In an attempt to look presidential and statesman-like, he came off looking worse for wear. One has to wonder if it would have been better for him to have stayed in the U.S and campaign. Nevertheless, we have to remember a Presidential candidate has advisors, and they share the blame as well. In my opinion, Romney's trip is another occasion where you have to question his leadership as well as the abilities of the people he has hired.
While in Britain, the former Governor simply had to say how well a job the Brits had done with the Olympics and shake Prime Minster David Cameron's hand and proclaim his exuberance for being in the country. Inexplicably, he stated there were some "disconcerting" aspects to England's preparations for the Olympiad. Needless to say, the British press were aghast and criticized the presidential candidate for his lack of diplomatic sense. Onto the next country, Mitt
Curiously enough, the GOP candidate was even bolder in Israel than in Britain. He stated his position on the War in Afghanistan. He does not agree with President Obama's troop withdrawal of 23,000 service members by September 30th. Romney also said he may not adhere to the President's plan to pull out all combat personnel by 2014.
Romney did not stop there. He proudly proclaimed Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Who gave him the authority is beyond me. The American embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to the city if he became President and the Israelis agreed.
Now if that didn't anger the Palestinian community enough, Mitt blindly took a second swipe at them. At a fundraiser, he deduced the contrasting success of Israelis and Palestinians to be because of cultural differences. Romney also stated that Israel's per-capita income was more than twice as high as Palestine's. He was wrong; in reality, it's actually 20 times higher. Next stop, Eastern Europe.
On his best behavior, Romney did not ruffle any feathers or anger any heads of state in Poland. Funny enough, his traveling Press Secretary, the last person you would expect to curse at the press, inexplicably did. He said they could "kiss his {expletive}" and "shove it." There is simply no explaining his behavior, though it does seem to encapsulate Romney's utterly disastrous run for the highest office in the land.
Someone needs to tell Mitt Romney's Chief Campaign strategist that Romney is not Barack Obama! Obama's attack ad featuring the GOP candidate shrieking "America the Beautiful" was brought about because Romney tried to respond to Obama's clip singing Al Greene at the Apollo; Romney, however, can't sing like Obama. Romney's European odyssey was supposed to mirror then candidate Obama's trip in 2008. There could not be a starker contrast. The President's speech to 200,000 people in Berlin made him seem like a demagogue in the making. Romney came off only as a more polished version of Rick Perry or Herman Cain, far from ready for the international stage and a laughably unprepared candidate for President of the United States.
