Romney calls Obama all over the map "in a debate on foreign policy

President Barack Obama described the governor as rival Mitt Romney "across the map" and experience in national security issues in the third and final presidential debate of the election night Monday in Boca Raton, Florida each candidate trying to paint the other Whenever a credible commander in chief, but Romney's performance is more aggressive than Obama, and governors are often defensive stocks 90 minutes.

"I know that we are not able to conduct foreign policy effectively, but when you offer your opinion, you are mistaken," Obama said, referring to Romney's initial support for the war in Iraq.

Critics of President Romney hard, and landed a few well-placed zingers. "The Cold War 20 years ago," Romney said in response to comments earlier this year that Russia is the main enemy of American geopolitics.

Then he said, "Well, Governor, we also have a few horses and bayonets" in response to criticism that Romney U.S. Navy Unless vessels in the past. "We have these things called mothership, where we landed the plane. The boat goes underwater submarines, nuclear power, "however, the President, the cynical nature of his voice.

Romney often went to internal affairs and the economy, including the large number of Americans in poverty, education records of Massachusetts, and plans to reduce the deficit and create jobs.

On foreign policy, Romney criticized Obama not how it manages to kill U.S. ambassador Libya Chris Stevens, an issue that was raised in the town hall style debate last week. Instead, Romney said that the Middle East is the "noise" and "emotion", and suggested that Obama's strategy to kill the leader of Al Qaeda in drone strike was not enough to achieve stability in the region.

"We can not kill our way out of this mess," said Romney. "We'll have to implement a comprehensive and strong to help the world ... Islam and other parts of the world reject the radical extremist violence, certainly not [is] to execute. '

Romney criticized Obama for what he described as an "apology tour" in the Middle East, he expects the weakness in other countries. "The President of what I started touring apology call to go to the Middle East and Latin criticize. I think I look and see the flaws, "Romney said. Obama calls this the "big deal" and criticized Romney for fundraising trip to Israel. "When I went to Israel as a candidate, I take a donor," said Obama. "I did not attend the fundraiser I went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum there, remind us of the nature of evil and why our bond with Israel is solved ..."

Except for the shooting, the candidates seem to agree on many key foreign policy issues, including the use of drone attacks to kill people who believe terrorists, tough sanctions against Iran (although Romney said sanctions should be more stringent) and strategies to avoid military intervention in Syria.

After Romney seeks to avoid the details of how it relates to civil war in Syria is different from Obama, the President replied: "What have you heard Governor Romney said he has different ideas."

Obama and Romney are statistically tied to voters in recent polls, with Romney to take the president on the strength of his performance in the first debate in Denver. In foreign policy, in particular, Obama took on Romney, the two digits only a few months ago, has been reduced to just four points, according to a recent survey by the bank.

Americans believe President Obama lost the first debate in Denver by a historic margin numbers and Romney in the polls came after a good performance there. When candidates met for a rematch at Hofstra University on Long Island last week, Obama seemed firmer, and polls show that is considered a narrow night instant winner.

Remains to be seen how this debate will provide "bounce" for any of the candidates in the final weeks of the campaign. Voters say the economy and jobs that really are the most important in this election.

Splat! Geek-in-chief Obama tests marshmallow gun

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday to test a new prototype for its arsenal of commander in chief - a high-powered rifle to send missiles screaming delicious marshmallow by the White House.

Guarded by an image reflective of his hero Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president firing the launcher and admire the other inventions on display at the fair to a young White House Science.

Obama is happy to see "Skype on wheels" robot that allows parents to use the Internet to communicate with distant relatives and only the envelope of sugar dissolved in a cup of coffee, to avoid creating waste. But could not resist the marshmallow launcher.

"Secret Service would be mad at me about it," Obama said, before the compressor and pumping vigorously shoot a marshmallow gun, invented by Joey Hudy 14 years of that.

Obama looked puzzled as a sweet shot around the room before hitting the wall near the entrance to the Red Room, an elegant living room furniture country full of rare 19th century France.

All the fun of the exhibition of science has a serious purpose. Obama has sought to highlight the importance attached to innovation, science and education - as reflected in the budget is presented next week.

The President said the Republican budget cuts to dry the type of public spending needed to excite a new generation of scientists and visionaries to develop the economy of the 21st century competition.

"Young people today met ... You inspire me. Young people like you that make me very confident that the best days of America are still ahead, "he said.

"When you work and learn and excel at what you do in math and science, when you compete in something like this, not only try to win the prize today, you get the conditions to win the America's future."

Obama said he introduced the budget next week will include programs to prepare new math and science teachers and to qualify more than one million U.S. graduates in science, technology, engineering and math for 10 years.

He also has advice for reporters and editors currently obsessed with the campaign of fireworks and the chance to win a second term in November.

"I will make a special request to the press - not only here but also the editor - is paying attention," he said.

"I mean, this is the kind of thing, so the young man who will make a big difference in the lives of our country in the long run than anything else."

Obama, party allies raise $68 million for re-election

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - re-election campaign of President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies have raised more than $ 68 million in the last three months of 2011, dwarfing the White House His Republican rival during the race close.

In a video message sent to supporters Thursday, 2012 Obama campaign, Jim Messina announced the draw, which combines with Obama's fundraising campaign and the Democratic National Committee more than $ 200 million for 2011.

In most of the money said to have come in a small number of thousands of U.S. dollars, fundraising offers Obama, a Democrat, a re-election campaign against Republican mattress and a good debate to see who their candidate in November elections.

Even the money given to Obama DNC effectively in play, your own campaign - the face of a lower contribution limits - $ 42 million received during the last three months of 2011.

However, now exceeding the required number of Republican campaigns, you will not receive financial support from the Republican National Committee.

Primary candidate Mitt Romney campaign, said Wednesday it has raised $ 24 million in the fourth quarter. Ron Paul raised $ 13 million and Newt Gingrich, raised $ 9 million.

Team Obama has surged to nearly $ 750 million raised for him when he was elected president in 2008.

Most of Obama's victory in 2008 was credited to his base support illustrated through small donations, which follows the flow of Messina, he said. As in the previous quarterly report, 98 percent of donations to the Obama campaign consists of $ 250 or less, he said.

In the video, Messina refused to support the campaign hopes to raise $ 1 billion. That false hope, he said, giving the wrong impression of Obama donors do not need financial support.

"Obama supporters are many who think that they do not need the money, or you do not need to give at this time," he said in the video.

"We won in 2008, because all the children and volunteers see their role in this campaign as really important for us to win. But now we are in danger of letting the belief that to escape through my fingers at this time. "

A major donor campaign highlights the financial challenges facing Obama's "Super PAC" technical group can contact the campaign, but can accept unlimited donations to support the candidate.

"This race is going to be expensive. The truth is that there is a finite cube (R) PAC money, "he said.

"The Obama campaign will need the money from him for the rest. And once they (the Republicans) to the candidate, when you begin to have a face. "

Some 1.3 million Americans gave Obama's campaign last year, including 000 donor 583 in the fourth quarter alone. Of these, nearly one-third of first time donors, Messina said.

This campaign would defeat the purpose of increasing $ 60 million in the fourth quarter, although the number performed on less than $ 70 million raised in the third quarter. At the end of September, the campaign and the DNC has raised nearly $ 155 million.

Supporting email Messina asked to chip in $ 25 today, Obama often exciting fundraising will begin with a request for a donation is much lower than $ 3.

This campaign until May 31 to release the full report their fourth quarter.

Virginia Republicans condemn graphic of a zombie Obama shot in the head

Republicans in Virginia to strongly condemn Halloween-themed graphics circulated by the local Republican committee Monday that President Obama is like a zombie with a gunshot wound to the head.

Number is displayed in a mass email sent to supporters of the Loudoun County Republican Committee is invited to a Halloween party. Images are displayed in the headers of messages, including photos of the Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi damaged, and many flesh-hungry zombies supporting Obama.

Obama's image, with a gunshot wound with blood over his right eye, was first reported Monday by too conservative blog in Virginia right political leaders accused of Loudoun County Republicans went "too far".

Another top Republican in the country quickly agreed.

"Figure nice used today in mass e-mail has no place in our politics," says Pat Mullins, the Virginia Republican Party chairman, said in a statement to the press, the Washington Post Anita Kumar. Party, he said, "condemned the images and their use in the strongest possible terms."

Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Bob O'Donnell, through a spokesman, called the graph "outrageous and offensive" and asked the Commission to ask for forgiveness.

"The governor has always stressed the need for civility and respect which is greater than our politics," said McConnell spokesman Tucker Martin. "There is e-mail as it undermines the purpose, offended all of Virginia and undermine our political process. It will not be tolerated. "

Loudoun County Republican Party Chairman Mark Sell said in an e-mail to The Associated Press Bob Lewis graph is an attempt "to inject humor fun taunt to a Halloween party.

"Apparently, some people have interpreted the image Barack Obama appears in the email as an attempt to describe the president as a victim of violent crime," writes Sale. "Nothing could be further from the truth, and fully and sincerely apologize to the President and anyone who saw the picture if it is the impression left behind."

Congressional leaders reach agreement to raise the debt ceiling

Republican and democratic leaders have agreed on a plan to raise the debt ceiling, announced by President Obama on Sunday evening.

Alert arrives in the months of intense negotiations with the door closed, and only two days before the deadline set by the Treasury Department.

According to available data, the agreement would slow down the growth of public expenditure in the next ten years by $ 2-$ 3 trillion and allow enough to borrow from another vote to increase the ceiling until 2013. Approximately $ 1 trillion will be immediately cut, and the details of the remaining reductions of expenditure will be handled by a bipartisan Committee of 12 lawmakers from both Chambers, who will recommend cuts for Congress to vote on them. To appease the GOP conservative wing, the deal would also require a vote in both Chambers on an amendment to the Constitution that the Federal Government each year to its budget in balance.

"I wish to announce that the leaders of both parties in both houses, have reached an agreement which would cut the deficit and avoid the default is the default value, which would have catastrophic consequences for our economy," Obama said. "Now, whether this is the case, I would prefer? №… But this compromise to make serious guarantee fee to reduce the deficit, we need, and gives each side a powerful incentive to maintain a balanced plan made before the end of this year. "

House Speaker John Leader Boehner's held a conference call Sunday night with the Republicans to the House in which he asked them to support the package, declaring that business on place "meets our principles of smaller government. "

"There is a framework, would the expenditure by a larger amount as we raise the debt and future expenditure limit the growth of the Government, Cap " he said, according to a transcript, the Boehner of the Office. " Listen to "Now, this Isn ' t the largest business in the world. But it shows that how much We have changed the terms of the debate in this city. "

On the approval of the leaders of the House and Senate, and the Tuesday deadline looming, the Congress must act quickly and to convince enough members to conclude an agreement with the vote on Monday. The agreement will require the support of both political parties, due to opposition within the factions from both sides.

Senate Leader Harry Reid both majority leader and the minority Mitch McConnell will present the agreement to their group on Monday at 11 a.m. with a vote expected later.

Obama’s motorcade fined for London congestion fees

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London Mayor Boris Johnson is raising a stink over minor congestion charges he says President Obama's motorcade incurred while visiting his city, the London Evening Standard reports.

Johnson has fined the United States 120 pounds (nearly $200 U.S. dollars) in congestion levies--10 pounds per vehicle--for the presidential motorcade used during Obama's state visit in May.

The sum may seem to be a pittance, but it is part of a much larger problem, Johnson and others say.

London officials told AFP that the American Embassy owes 5.3 million pounds ($8.7 million dollars) in unpaid congestion fines--known as C-charges--which were first established in 2003. Since the roads weren't closed during the president's visit, he is subject to the fines, Johnson says.

In speaking with the Standard, the Embassy defended its refusal to pay, citing the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which prohibits "this sort of tax on diplomatic missions."

The Standard reports that Obama's personal armored Cadillac--nicknamed "The Beast"--first escaped a fine because congestion charge cameras were unable to record its license plate number.

As you may remember, "The Beast" encountered problems of its own on that UK trip.

During a visit to the U.S. Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, Obama's car got stuck on the driveway in front of crowds of onlookers.

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A jazzy all-American state dinner for Chinese prez

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WASHINGTON – Michelle and Barack Obama welcomed a mix of Hollywood A-listers, big business types and prominent Chinese-Americans to the White House as they threw a "quintessentially American" state dinner Wednesday for the president of China, complete with apple pie and ice cream, and jazz music for the entertainment.

The first lady was clad in an elegant red shoulder-baring gown that swished around her in soft folds and the president sported a tuxedo as they welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao on a red carpet on the White House portico. An honor guard stood at attention behind them.

Celebrity star power arrived in the form of singer Barbra Streisand, her hubby-actor James Brolin and action film star Jackie Chan. Big business turned out in force, too, including Microsoft's Steven Ballmer and JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon, among others. Among the big names: fashion's Vera Wang, Vogue's Anna Wintour, artist Maya Lin, Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer to add some gravitas. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter made the cut, too.

Wang wore a floor-length, sleeveless design of her own. Wintour opted for a white, patterned Chanel skirt suit.

The dinner's all-star jazz lineup included trumpeter Chris Botti, two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, jazz icon Herbie Hancock, rising pianist Lang Lang and four-time Grammy-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves.

Jazz pianist Peter Martin, part of the entertainment lineup, prepped for his appearance by springing for a tux.

"I'm finally a grown-up, graduated from renting to owning," Martin tweeted, adding that he was "super-excited" about the White House gig.

Regular folks who find themselves in a last-minute frenzy before guests arrive can take comfort in knowing that it's the same at the White House: Hours before the dinner, chair cushions were stacked in the front foyer and harried staff shuttled flower arrangements to and fro.

New this state dinner: The 225 guests were spread out among three rooms: the State Dining Room, Blue Room and Red Room, then all shuttle to the East Room for the entertainment. Big video monitors were set up in the Blue and Red rooms for the outcasts to catch the dinner toasts.

The two presidents' toasts featured the usual promises of better relations all around, and Obama used the moment to highlight an agreement that will ensure the beloved giant pandas from China remain at the Smithsonian National Zoo for another five years.

Also new: The Obamas opted against bringing in a high-profile guest chef, instead putting White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford in charge of preparing an all-American themed dinner at the request of the Chinese delegation, the White House said.

On the menu: d'anjou pear salad with farmstead goat cheese, poached Maine lobster, orange glazed carrots and black trumpet mushrooms, dry aged rib eye with buttermilk crisp onions, double-stuffed potatoes and creamed spinach. Dessert was to be old-fashioned apple pie with vanilla ice cream.

Obama is known to be an avid eater of pastry chef Bill Yosses' pies.

Streisand, who also made the guest list for an afternoon luncheon at the State Department, said she was appearing at her first state dinner since the Clinton years. The singer, who helped raise money for Obama during the presidential campaign, said she had "a lot of friends here."

Asked for a thought on why she had been invited, she quipped: "I worked in a Chinese restaurant."

Wintour said she hoped to talk to Hu about — what else? — fashion, specifically investing in Chinese fashion.

There were some high-profile no-shows, including three of the top four leaders of Congress: House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who declined Obama's past state dinner invitations; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.

With the Senate out of session, Reid was home in Nevada and McConnell just wrapped up a congressional trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan and had not planned to be in Washington this week, aides said.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was the only top congressional leader to accept an invitation. Many in Congress see China as an economic threat to the U.S. Pelosi also has been a longtime and outspoken critic of China's human rights record.

At a White House news conference with Obama, Hu punted when asked to comment on the congressional leaders' absence.

"I think President Obama is certainly in a better position to answer that question," he said, drawing laughter from journalists and the U.S. and China officials seated in the East Room.

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Gibbs stepping down as White House press secretary

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It's official: Robert Gibbs is leaving his post as White House press secretary.

One of President Obama's most seasoned and trusted advisers, Gibbs tells the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny that he will leave the podium in early February to lend outside assistance to the president's re-election campaign. He broke the news to this staff at a meeting earlier Wednesday morning.

No successor has been named, but Gibbs says a successor should be in place within two weeks. Among the names bandied about lately as a replacement: Deputy Press Secretaries Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, as well as Vice President Joe Biden's spokesman, Jay Carney.

[Rewind: Gibbs' bold move during Obama's India visit]

This will be a major season of transition for the Obama White House on the eve of the president's 2012 re-election bid. In coming weeks, David Axelrod, the president's longtime political adviser, will exit the White House to work for the campaign. Gibbs and Axelrod have worked for Obama dating back to his 2004 run for Senate. Axelrod will be replaced by David Plouffe, who ran Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

At the same time, Obama is looking for a new chief of staff. Rahm Emanuel quit in October to run for mayor of Chicago, and Pete Rouse (who had been Obama's chief of staff in the Senate) temporarily stepped in but reportedly doesn't want the job permanently. The president is said to be eyeing Bill Daley, President Clinton's former Commerce secretary.

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President Obama wears rubber sandals in public, world loses mind

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John F. Kennedy had his boat shoes. Reagan wore cowboy boots and Richard Nixon chose formal wingtips to frolic on the beach. But, last week, while on holiday in Hawaii, President Barack Obama may have boldly gone where no president before him had gone while on vacation: he wore flip-flops. In public.

Since the photographs of this landmark event (which took place in a local ice cream shop) surfaced earlier this week, news outlets, style watchers, and even historians have labored extensively over the appropriateness of Obama's footwear choice.

"I can't say I've seen a president's toes before," presidential historian Jane Hampton Cook, author of an upcoming children's book "What Does the President Look Like?" told the New York Post. "But I don't think this is a big deal. Your footwear belongs to the occasion. If you're on the beach buying your daughter snow cones, I don't think you can beat him up for this."

June Ambrose, a celeb fashion stylist and author of the recent book "Effortless Style," agrees: "When he’s serving in office he’s in the right attire. It’s not like he came to address the State of the Union in flip-flops. This is his personal time and I think he’s entitled to have a human experience. This is what keeps him grounded and very in touch with what’s going on in this country."

[Related: It's official: Barack Obama never wears shorts to play basketball]
The Obama White House is certainly no stranger to fashion controversy. Last year, when Michelle Obama dared to wear shorts to explore the Grand Canyon on a hot summer's day, the blogosphere went wild with commentary. (Were they too short? ZOMG!) And let us not forget "arms-gate" 2010 when stylistas and journalists could not stop talking about the ramifications of a first lady going out without sleeves.

All this said, many experts feel these more casual, down-to-earth sartorial choices may be wise ones for the Obamas, flip-flops included. "To me wearing oxfords on the beach like Nixon is a little bit removed from reality. Barack Obama is the first for everything—there are so many things that he has done that aren’t traditional in this office. He still has a BlackBerry. He’s a very modern day president and he's completely revolutionizing the image of the White House." Ambrose says approachability may have scared off previous presidents but that is what attracts people to Obama. "He feels very accessible, and these little statements are very relatable to the American people."
In 2005, members of Northwestern University's lacrosse team famously wore flip-flops when posing with then-president George W. Bush in the White House. Photo by David Bohrer, White House
And while President Obama never wore thong sandals in office, flip-flops and the White House have created a scandal before. In 2005, Northwestern University's national championship women's lacrosse team made headlines when the girls were photographed wearing flip-flops as they posed with then-president George W. Bush. Fashion expert Meghan Cleary told the New York Post that while adults were mortified, "It was very much a generational thing, since the girls thought nothing of it," she said. "They wore them all the time on campus and thought it was perfectly fine." Perhaps Obama's comfy and casual flip-flop choice is just one more reason why college students helped elect him into the White House.

"Someone who is of a different time won’t understand the flip-flops," said Ambrose. "This is a modern day perspective. I think that anyone who’s going to have a strong opinion is someone who’s completely old school, and this is the new school. Obama is continuously breaking the rules and creating waves in his own way, and I think that’s really refreshing. But I think we need to focus our attention on other things that are a lot more important and pressing in the world than the fashion statement our president is making."

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