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US election 2012: Barack Obama 'shook up stubborn political stereotypes' with Osama bin Laden killing
In a video dispatch from the US, John Avlon says that the shooting of Osama bin Laden has fundamentally altered the political landscape in America.
In his first communique from America, the senior columnist for Newsweek and
The Daily Beast says that President Barack Obama's action in the battle
against al-Qaeda means that Republicans seeking to oust him in November's
election can "forget the narratives about how Democrats are weak on
national security."
"In the wake of the killing of bin Laden, it has been fascinating to see
Republican confusion on foreign policy play out during the primary," he
says.
"Foreign policy mostly came up in the debates as an opportunity to
criticise President Obama without offering alternative policy plans –
therefore the timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan is attacked but no
candidate is actually proposing that we stay longer."
With Mitt Romney's nomination for the Republican candidacy almost certainly
assured, Avlon says the GOP front-runner is struggling to look as tough as
the President.
"Romney's foreign policy vision is still largely a work in progress
beneath the bumper sticker slogans about not apologising for America on the
world stage – a baseless charge that nonetheless resonates with the
conservative base."
"President Obama's credibility on foreign policy stems from his success
in taking the fight to al-Qaeda. It shakes up stubborn stereotypes in
constructive ways, recalling forgotten wisdom once honoured in Washington:
partisanship ought to end at the water's edge."
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