Expect republican attacks to coincide with President Obama's foreign policy trip

July 4, 6:12 PMPolitical Buzz ExaminerRyan Witt

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President Obama's previous foreign policy trips have shown that while away the republicans will certainly play offense.  When then presidential-candidate Obama gave speeches before huge crowds in Berlin he was compared to Hitler by some more extreme conservative commentators and called a European elitist by the moderate conservative commentators.  When President Obama gave speeches overseas which addressed American blunders in the past he was called an apologist who was ashamed of his country.  When President Obama bent at the waist before Saudi Arabian leaders he was seen as bowing before the all powerful Saudi royalty.  President George W. Bush was certainly friendly with the Saudis as well exchanging hugs and holding hands with Saudi leaders but he never received the same condemnation.  

No matter what President Obama does on these trips he can do no right for conservatives who see the trips as an opportunity to go on the attack.  If the President is popular in foreign countries he is a foreign elitist who does not stick up for America.  If he reaches out to foreign leaders or compromises he is an appeaser and soft on other countries.

We can only expect more attacks to come from the right as President Obama leaves Sunday night for a foreign policy trip to Russia, Italy, and Ghana.  As a sort of preview I am going to list what I think we can anticipate coming from the mouths of conservatives as President Obama visits each country.

Russia

Here President Obama will meet with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.  Officially Medvedev is President of Russia but most people believe Putin really calls the shots as President Obama alluded to in his statements leading up to the trip.  In Russia the President would like to reach a framework for both countries to reduce their nuclear stockpiles.  It would make an infinite amount of sense to for both countries to reduce the amount of nuclear weapons they maintain as the weapons are expensive and each country already has more than enough weapons to blow the world up many times over.

On the trip expect republican leaders to claim President Obama is weakening the American defense systems.  Expect the spin to talk about how Obama was bullied by Putin and is only seeking to appease the Russians at the cost of American security.  If an arms deal is reached expect republicans to attack President Obama for damaging the United States deterrence capabilities.

Italy

This will be the center of the Obama foreign policy trip as the President meets with the Pope to discuss ways to reduce global poverty and also meets with industrial nations on climate change.  It is hoped that the President can establish an international agreement among industrialized nations to reduce greenhouse gases.  The reason President Obama pushed the climate change bill so hard recently was to allow him to have leverage at this meeting against countries who accuse the United States of doing nothing about climate change.

If President Obama is not able to make progress on a climate change agreement expect conservatives to criticize the President for trying to limit U.S. industry through the climate change Bill while letting the rest of the world pollute.  If an international agreement is reached expect conservatives to claim President Obama is sacrificing American sovereignty to the new world order of the United Nations.

Ghana

Here the President is expected to speak before the parliament and tour a slave trade hub.  The President is expected to praise and encourage the democracy of Ghana and he will surely give some remarks about the slave trade as well.

Expect republican leaders to blame the President for the failure to develop democracy in Iran and other parts of the world.  Even though President Bush made no progress in changing in Iran over eight years republican leaders will likely criticize President Obama for not doing more to bring about democracy over the six months he has been President.  Finally, if President Obama properly acknowledges the United States shameful role in the slave trade you may also hear republican leaders attack the President for being an apologists who is ashamed of America.

Conclusion

Hopefully the Obama administration is well prepared for the attacks that will surely come their way as President Obama is on his trip.  Right now republicans are gaining some momentum by making President Obama seek soft in the foreign policy realm and they will surely try to exploit this argument more in the coming days.