Obama Foreign Policy Under Fire

Foreign policy is moving to a top position in the early 2016 presidential contest and is likely to share the agenda with domestic issues in the fall debates.

Republican presidential candidates are excoriating the Obama administration for what they see as weakness in the President’s foreign policy leadership that also draws a contrast with presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who served as his Secretary of State.

• In mid-January, Pew Research asked Americans if Obama was “tough enough” on foreign policy. It displayed a 17-point increase since 2009 among the public not believing the President was “tough enough” (38% 2009 to 55% now). 89% of Republicans don’t believe he is “tough enough,” but even 35% of Democrats agree. (Pew Research. Jan. 14, 2015)
• The most recent Pew poll shows the Republican Party with a 20% lead as the party to do a better job “dealing with the terrorist threat at home” and 13% lead over Democrats in “making wise decisions about foreign policy.” The poll highlights a 16-point shift to the Republican Party on the issue by independents. (Pew Research, Feb. 18-22, 2015)
• In the presidential race, the most repeated attack line at the recent CPAC conference by the Republican field was about the failure of the Obama administration’s foreign policy.
• In Colorado, 44% of voters are “very worried” by the rise of Islamic extremists and another 34% “somewhat worried,” and 71% are “very” or “somewhat” worried about a Charlie Hebdo-type attack in the U.S. (Quinnipiac, Feb. 15, 2015)