US President Barack Obama emerged – with difficulty – from the third and final presidential debate, which mostly revolved around foreign policy, with better results than his Republican rival Mitt Romney.
In the third debate Obama was able to come up with that ‘magic mix’ combining “poise and strength”, whilst Romney had no poise whatsoever and continued his policy of angrily attacking his opponent without putting forth any practical argument that qualifies him to be the next US President and Commander-in-Chief and of the most powerful army in the world.
Foreign policy is a very important issue for the American voter, although American culture, with regards to its citizens, is based primarily on the premise of withdrawing within and focusing on domestic issues.
The importance of foreign policy for the Americans lies in the extent of its impact on decision of war and peace , for the common tax payer may have to pay the price for any wrong decision in this area.
The Americans paid a price for their convictions in the Second World War, when they stood against Hitler.
They paid a heavy price in the Vietnam War, which saw the largest protest movement in modern American history.
They also paid a price recently, and felt its severe impact, when George W. Bush sent hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and officers to Iraq and Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks. This has resulted in US treasury losses of $2 trillion.
Hence the American electorate, whether they are affiliated with the Republican Party or the Democrats, are scrutinizing the extent of the experience and capabilities of the country’s next president.
The President of the United States is the one with the right – he alone and no one else – to press the red button and launch a devastating nuclear war on the world.
The man in the White House is capable of declaring a conventional or nuclear war, and hence he must be trusted by the people, and must possess the ability and wisdom to weigh up matters on a scale of gold.
The last thing the American citizen needs today is another military adventure that will result in a new bill for current and future American taxpayers to pay, given that they already have to pay a national debt of around $16 trillion, which has accumulated as a result of the errors of former presidents.