âGov. Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later,â President Obama said in a CBS interview last night, criticizing Romneyâs reaction to the embassy attack in Cairo. Romney criticized the Obama administrationâs âapologyâ in response to the attacks on the embassy and subsequent failure to condemn the attacks right away. Obamaâs remarks, however, echo frequent criticisms made by President Jimmy Carter of Ronald Reagan, then his opponent for the presidency. Carter criticized Reaganâs views on foreign policy during his speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1980, slamming Reagan for living in a âfantasy worldâ and noting his inability to understand the âcomplex global changesâ in foreign policy. âItâs a make believe world. A world of good guys and bad guys, where some politicians shoot first and ask questions later,â Carter said, âNo hard choices. No sacrifice. No tough decisions. It sounds too good to be true â and it is. The path of fantasy leads to irresponsibility. The path of reality leads to hope and peace.â After Reaganâs nomination in July 1980, Carter criticized Republicans calling it âa party with a narrow vision, a party that is afraid of the future, a party whose leaders are inclined to shoot from the hip, a party that has never been willing to put its investment in human beings who are below them in economic and social status.â As Philip Klein noted on Twitter, the Carter campaign ran fearful âman on the streetâ ads during the campaign, fretting that Reagan would be a president who would âshoot from the hip.â <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oQRxW-_MZCs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Haven't we heard enough of this Carter Obama parallel? Carter lost the debates to a much better orator, Obama just has to beat Romney. Now come on, there is no parallel here. I've read the talking points, but this one is not getting any traction.