West Long Branch, N.J. (The Verge) – In this tense political atmosphere, every move is dissected, analyzed and critiqued. Now that we’re months away from the Presidential Election of 2012, the GOP will take anything they can get their hands on and use it against the President. In recent days this has been controversial statements with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev regarding the nuclear defense system.
Speaking at a nuclear summit in South Korea, President Obama asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to have some leeway with conversation and progress regarding European missile defense talks. He said that after November’s election, he will have more flexibility to accomplish specifics on the agenda.
Medvedev responded to the Obama’s statement by saying he would relay the information to Vladimir Putin, who is the Prime Minister and current President-Elect.
Obviously, Republicans used this series of events to their advantage, citing presidential weakness and inability to accomplish thorough foreign policy improvements. Republicans said the President’s comments showed that he is clearly politicizing foreign policy, and putting petty campaign-trail events above prominent foreign issues…including specifics on reducing nuclear arms.
Vice President Joe Biden quickly came to Barack Obama’s defense, saying that the comments were just a true depiction of reality. In a country with a sharply-divided Congress and a tense political battle with the Romney camp occurring, it’s clear not many negotiations can be made.
“We’re not going to have the flexibility to sit down and talk with people in this Congress that are going to be able to listen and be able to work with us — probably between now and Election Day,” said Biden.
Sure, the challenge of foreign policy is clear here. But add in a Supreme Court session deciding on ObamaCare’s constitutionality plus rapid attacks from the Romney Super PAC and you get a tense environment. The President clearly has his hands full.
Representative C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, the top democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, came to the President’s defense afterwards, saying that the comments were only natural on CNN’s “State of the Union.
“Politics, a lot of things happen in politics. People are trying to get elected. I’m not going to make a judgment on what he said. I have confidence in the President and that he is going to do the right thing to protect our country 100%,” Ruppersberger said to CNN’s Candy Crowley.
But on the other side of the aisle, Romney quickly attacked Obama’s statement. He stated that the President’s comments were pretty ineffective for the nation considering Russia is the United States “number-one geopolitical foe.” This stab at Obama prompted quite a cold-response from the Russian President, who advised the Presidential candidate to “listen to reason” before making statements.
On CBS’s “Face the Nation” Joe Biden further attacked Romney’s harsh criticisms of the President. He called Romney “out of touch” —be it with Russian relations and even domestic policies. As Romney claimed that Obama let Detroit go bankrupt and that the healthcare mandate is disagreeable, Biden has claimed that Romney is antiquated in his views and can offer the nation nothing.
From missile defense to attacks on the GOP, this event heightened the tension surrounding the election even more. Although Biden noted that Romney would most likely be the Republican candidate, he seems to have stuck to his guns, saying that Romney would not be able to offer the nation much.
The Russia comments showed the GOP that the President is weak or highly politicized, the Romney comments allowed Obama’s dirty-worker, Joe Biden to attack the former governor. Here’s party politics at its finest. Is this a divided democracy we live in or what? Expect tensions to rise as the election nears.
