[Cincinatus' Wife]

....."Former American ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, a staunch conservative who has not endorsed a candidate, told AFP the contenders have to explain the relationship between the US economy and national security.

"What is required here is describing how you advance American interests even though the economy is the top issue. The president has to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time," he said.

"You can't have a strong national defense without a vigorous economy, but over the long run you can't have a strong economy without peace in the world. And that's what America has provided," he added."....

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...."“Energizing American Jobs and Security” is based on a simple premise: Make what Americans buy. Buy what Americans make. And sell it to the world. America is not forced to import vast resources from foreign nations, including those hostile to our interests. Importing energy resources is a policy choice our leaders have made. But increasing reliance on hostile sources of energy jeopardizes America’s national security and prevents economic recovery.

Today, unstable countries in the Middle East have the potential to cut off the spigot and do great damage to our economy. Our continued reliance on unstable and hostile countries for energy is as unnecessary as it is dangerous.

My “Energizing American Jobs and Security” plan will commence or expand energy exploration from the Atlantic coast to the western seas off Alaska. We will end the bureaucratic foot-dragging that has reduced offshore drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico by eighty percent. We will tap the full potential of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. We will unleash exploration in our Western states, which have the potential to produce more energy than what we import from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela, Columbia, Algeria, Nigeria and Russia combined."..... Rick Perry: Energizing American Jobs and Security

"Rick Perry believes that our nation is most secure when we have the strongest economy in the world. His first priority will be to get America’s economic engine running at full speed to restore our global economic leadership, and to ensure America has the resources needed to maintain a strong, modern defense. By the same token, we need to maintain our strong presence to defend our interests around the globe while we rebuild our economy at home.".... Rick Perry: Security

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Foreign Policy --

Q: What are the three most important foreign policy issues facing the U.S. today?

Rick Perry: “Having a strong economy so that we have the economic ability to have an impactful foreign policy.

We must be able to keep up with our research and -development capabilities in the military.

And our very important foreign policy position must be that our friends know we’ll be there for them, whether it’s Israel in the Middle East or Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or India in the sphere of influence where China is located.”

[Darkwolf377]

"The Republican candidates will be hard-pressed to find fault with the President's national security record, which is among the most successful in decades," said Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Melanie Roussell.

Was she able to say this while keeping a straight face?

[sergeantdave]

First question: Will you bow before the Saudi king like obuma did?

[onyx]

Republicans hope that tarring Obama as an unreliable friend to staunch US ally Israel will energize their conservative Christian base and douse his support among Jewish voters, a key bloc in heavyweight states such as Florida.

Tarring!

Oh my! LOL.

[PoloSec]

The smart candidate will be able to tie the failure of foreign policy to the failure of the economy, I would make the two inseparable, two birds with one stone.

[shield]

Perry Ping....

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[TomGuy]

Foreign policy -- this could be a mine field of gotcha questions for several of these candidates.

Obama earns far higher marks on terrorism, Afghanistan and Iraq

Without drastic improvement in the economy and joblessness [and Team Obama are manipulating the numbers as best as they can], Obama will be running on his foreign policy successes. That will be difficult for the GOP candidates to counter, because Huntsman is the only one of the field that has any actual foreign policy experience.

[Does bringing the Olympics to Utah count as foreign policy experience?]

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They better be sharp -- and watch out for gotcha mines.