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Ahead of the final presidential debate in Florida next week, Republican nominee Mitt Romney has significantly cut into Barack Obama’s lead over foreign policy issues and now trails within four points of the incumbent US president, a latest poll show.
On the question of who can do a better job making wise decisions about foreign policy, 47 per cent of voters favour Obama and 43 per cent Romney, said the Pew Center which carried out the national survey between October 4 and 7.
“This represents a substantial gain for Romney, who trailed Obama by 15 points on foreign policy issues in September. Romney gained on several domestic issues as well, including the deficit and jobs. Romney holds a nine-point lead over Obama on dealing with China’s trade policies (49 per cent to 40 per cent). Among independent voters, Romney holds a 16-point advantage (50 per cent to 34 per cent),” Pew said.
The survey finds increasing public pessimism about developments in West Asia and more support for tough policies to deal with Iran’s nuclear programme and economic issues with China. However, there is no change in the consensus in support for ending US military involvement in Afghanistan, the report said.
Nearly six-in-ten Americans (57 per cent) do not believe the changes in West Asia will lead to lasting improvements for people living in the affected countries, up sharply from 43 per cent in April 2011, it said.
And a majority of Americans (54 per cent) continue to say it is more important to have stable governments in the West Asia, even if there is less democracy in the region. Just 30 per cent say democratic governments are more important, even if there is less stability, Pew said.
On dealing with other issues — Iran’s nuclear programme and political instability in countries like Egypt and Libya — neither candidate has a clear advantage.
A separate survey finds that the public is divided over the Obama administration’s handling of last month’s terrorist attack on the US consulate in Libya, which killed US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
“About four-in-ten (38 per cent) Americans disapprove of the Obama administration’s handling of the deadly terrorist attack on the US consulate, while 35 per cent approve. About a quarter (27 per cent) express no opinion,” the report said.
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