[CCIP]

Oh, I agree with that entirely, as I said already. I'm just commenting on foreign policy specifically. I think on the big issues at home, both of them are stuck, with Obama probably being even more of a lame duck than Romney. But abroad, teleprompter or not, Obama at the very least seems to have better advisors, if nothing else, and did in fact court some positive diplomacy before he was even elected. What he did with it is another story, of course. But most of what I've been reading on this Romney trip has been foreign press rather than the US, and he's really tanked with them so far. He doesn't understand the Israel-Palestine problem, which like it or not, is gonna hang over practically the whole world and especially the Middle East for the near future. He has trouble understanding the UK, your biggest ally. And he has a poor grasp of recent history and key issues facing Europe, as shown by Europe. His staff have also behaved themselves poorly and made several irresponsible remarks on this trip, and haven't added to good publicity. Add to that his history of remarks on Russia and China, the "enemy" etc.

If I had to give Romney marks so far, he'd get an F from me on Israel/Palestine and therefore Middle East issues in general, an F on Russia, a D on China and Europe, and maybe a C on Britain. On most of those, what I've heard from Obama scores at least a B-, though his actual performance on most of these has been worse than that. The Obama administration's actual response to the situation in the Middle East has been especially pathetic, indecisive, inconsistent, often illegal and ultimately playing into the hands of forces that really, really dislike the US. Shockingly though, if Romney's remarks are anything to go by, I see him doing even worse on this front.

Romney just needs better advisors on foreign relations. If he keeps on this way, nobody who believes that the world outside the US borders matters will be able to take him seriously.