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Romney's Gaffes Elevate Foreign Policy as Election Issue

Not only has Mitt Romney underperformed as a candidate, he may have also emboldened those who oppose the US and further complicated an already complex set of foreign policy and security problems, Danny Sebright writes for Al-Monitor.
U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as steps off his campaign plane in Dallas, Texas, September 19, 2012.       REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS)

Mitt Romney’s several gaffes and missteps over the last few weeks particularly with regard to US Middle East policy will undeniably haunt him in the weeks prior to US elections in a similar, game-changing way John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin did in 2008.

Recent mistakes made by Romney and his team regarding the Middle East are so egregious that he is quickly making foreign policy a hot-button topic in a general election that most observers assumed would focus primarily on the US economy and other domestic issues.

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