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Light in foreign-policy arena
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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan R-Wis., left, campaign in Mooresville, N.C. For the first time in decades, the Republican presidential ticket has little substantial foreign policy or military experience.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
For the first time in decades, the Republican presidential ticket has little substantial foreign-policy or military experience, a marked shift for a party that has long sought to project strength on those issues.
That may not hurt Mitt Romney, a successful businessman, and Paul Ryan, a congressional budget expert, in a tightly contested election dominated by sluggish economic growth and high unemployment.
But a series of pressing foreign-policy concerns — including the war in Afghanistan, a civil war in Syria and the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran — still could shake up the race before November and are certain to become immediate priorities for whoever wins the White House.
Republicans insist that Ryan, a Wisconsin congressman, brings foreign-policy credentials to the Romney-led ticket. Campaign officials point to his experience working on international- trade issues in Congress and his knowledge of the defense budget.
But the difference between the foreign-policy and national-security experience held by the Romney-Ryan ticket and recent Republican tickets is stark.
Dick Cheney served as defense secretary before becoming vice president to President George W. Bush, a former Texas governor who had scant experience in international affairs. Bob Dole, who ran for president in 1996, was a World War II hero, though his running mate, Jack Kemp, was a congressman best known for his conservative economic views. President George H.W. Bush was a World War II veteran, the U.S. envoy to China and CIA director before serving as vice president to Ronald Reagan, who had limited foreign-policy skills, and later winning the presidency himself.
Most recently, Republicans nominated Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam War hero who has spent years on the Senate Armed Services Committee.