GOP candidates shift to defense and foreign policy

The leading Republican presidential candidates focused on defense and foreign policy Friday, topics largely overlooked up till now in a campaign that has revolved around the economy and jobs.

Campaigning in South Carolina, Mitt Romney called for substantially more Navy ships, resuming the missile defense buildup begun under Republican administrations and adopting a more aggressive stance in the Middle East.

Romney coupled that with familiar criticism of President Obama as a “feckless” leader, without mentioning recent U.S. military successes against top leaders of Al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden.

“If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president,” Romney said. “You have that president today.”

Romney did not put a price tag on his proposals or say how he would fund them. A Romney advisor said that unspecified reductions in administrative positions and cost savings from procurement reforms would help offset the increases.

Romney’s speech, delivered before military cadets at the Citadel in Charleston, was hawkish in tone. But in many cases, the policies he outlined hew closely to mainstream foreign policy and positions taken by presidents of both parties. He spoke of sharpening U.S. involvement in multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, while sidestepping thorny issues such as the future role of the U.S. in Afghanistan.

Romney called for a highly visible U.S. military presence in the Middle East, more military assistance for Israel and an effort to indict Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in an international court for incitement to genocide for saying that Israel should be “wiped off the map.” Romney also wants a “selective” strengthening of U.S. armed forces, to reverse a course toward a “hollow” military under Obama.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry echoed several of Romney’s attack lines in a speech to a convention of social conservative activists in Washington, including assailing the president for what the Republicans said was Obama’s lack of faith in American exceptionalism and an abandonment of Israel.

Perry, returning to the campaign with his first public appearance in nearly a week, touted one of his perceived advantages in the GOP contest — his military background.

He served five years in the Air Force, piloting cargo planes, unlike Romney, who has no military or foreign policy experience.

He said he considered himself “so fortunate to have been able to wear the uniform of our country. And that experience, it informs my perspective about our defense policies.” Criticizing the recent debt ceiling deal approved by Republicans and Democrats in Congress, he said the country “must never put the military on a chopping block for arbitrary budget cuts as part of some political horse trade.”

Pledging “an unwavering commitment to our national security,” Perry said he would never compromise on defense spending or border security. He revived a suggestion that raised eyebrows recently: that U.S. military forces be deployed south of the border in cooperation with Mexico in the face of narco-terrorism that he called “a clear and present danger” to the U.S.

“As a border governor, I know firsthand the failures of our federal border policies. And I know the answers to those failures is not to grant amnesty to those who broke the law to come into this country,” said Perry, whose support for tuition aid for undocumented immigrants — which he didn’t mention — has hurt him with conservatives.

His remarks were delivered to several thousand Christian conservatives at the Values Voter Summit, a two-day gathering that is a regular stop for GOP candidates. Four years ago, it served as a launching pad for Mike Huckabee’s rise in the Republican presidential contest, leading to his victory in Iowa’s leadoff caucuses several months later.

Perry also spoke about social issues, but not about gay marriage — a dominant topic at the meeting. His decision to broaden his remarks to include the economy and defense could be taken as further evidence that social issues have been relegated to a secondary status in the 2012 GOP campaign. Organizers said registration for the event set a record, but there were plenty of empty seats in the ballroom when he spoke.

Crowd-pleasing Herman Cain, who received far and away the most enthusiastic reception of the four presidential contenders who spoke Friday, also touched on defense policy.

Borrowing from Ronald Reagan, he said, “The Cain philosophy is peace through strength and clarity. We must clarify who our friends are, clarify who our enemies are and stop giving money to our enemies.”

After vowing that “if you’re messing with Israel, you’re messing with the United States of America,” he called for an upgrade of the Aegis surface-to-air weapons system, including aboard ships that could be stationed off Iran.

“Make that a priority, and then say to Ahmadinejad, ‘Make my day!’” Cain said, bringing the audience to its feet, cheering.

The Atlanta businessman boasted about his recent rise in the polls, saying, to applause, that he had moved “into the top tier” and now would have “garbage” thrown at him by critics, because “they are a little afraid that this long shot may not be a long shot any longer.”

Cain’s emergence has forced his rivals to take notice, including former Sen. Rick Santorum, who is hoping to pick up votes from social conservatives in Iowa and was the first of the GOP contenders to speak.

“I know there’s a plan out there that’s the 9-9-9 plan,” Santorum said, referring to Cain’s plan to overhaul the tax system. “I’ve got a better plan. It’s the zero-zero-zero plan.”

The zeros: eliminating the corporate tax on manufacturers, allowing U.S. companies to repatriate overseas profits tax-free, and eliminating expensive regulations promulgated under the Obama administration.

Newt Gingrich, the final speaker, did not attempt to compete with Cain, delivering an abbreviated version of his stump speech after observing, in a nod to the hottest candidate on the GOP circuit, that it was the first time in history that two presidential candidates from Georgia had spoken back-to-back.

paul.west@latimes.com