Debate's "brightest moment"? Few media note that even while attacking Obama, Romney agreed on substance

In covering the August 5 Republican presidential debate on ABC's This Week, many print media outlets reported former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's attack -- in what the Associated Press' Mike Glover referred to as one of the debate's "brightest moments" -- on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) recent foreign policy statements: "[I]n one week, he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies. I mean, he's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week." Romney was referring to Obama's statement in an August 1 speech that "[i]f we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and [Pakistani] President [Pervez] Musharraf won't act, we will." Giuliani also criticized Obama, claiming that Obama "didn't express" his comments "the right way," adding: "I think the senator, if he could just say it over again, might want to say that we would encourage Musharraf to allow us to do it if we thought he couldn't accomplish it." But in no case did these reports note, as debate moderator George Stephanopoulos did, that when Giuliani was asked about Obama's comments on the day of the speech, he did not criticize Obama, but rather echoed his position: "[W]ould that be an option that's on the table, which is we have a chance to catch bin Laden and we have got to do it ourselves because we're not sure if somebody is going to do it correctly -- yeah, I think I would take that option." And, in several cases, the media outlets did not report that even amid their criticism, both Romney and Giuliani affirmed during the debate that they would retain the option of acting against Osama bin Laden over Pakistan's objections, if necessary.

Romney attacked Obama's foreign policy statements early in the debate, at which point Stephanopoulos said they would return to the topic:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor Romney, are you and Mayor Giuliani and Senator [John] McCain [R-AZ] all in the same place right now on Iraq?

ROMNEY: I think we're pretty much in the same place. It is critical for us to win this conflict. It is essential, and that's why we are going to continue to pursue this effort, and we're going to get a report from General [David] Petraeus on the success, and I agree that the Brookings Institution report over the weekend was a very encouraging indication that we're making progress. That's great news.

At the same time, you look at that Democratic debate -- I had to laugh at what I saw Barack Obama do. I mean, in one week, he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies. I mean, he's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We're going to get to that.

Stephanopoulos later challenged Giuliani's criticism of Obama's August 1 statements, noting that Giuliani had also said that he would retain the option of going into Pakistan over Musharraf's objections:

STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor Romney, you said you didn't agree with Obama's plan. You called it ill-timed and ill-considered. Mayor Giuliani, on Charlie Rose the other night, you said, "I would take that option." Why don't you guys take two minutes and debate this issue out.

GIULIANI: Well, I believe -- I believe that that is an option that should remain open. I think the senator didn't express it the right way. I think the senator, if he could say it over again, might want to say that we would encourage Musharraf to allow us to do it if we thought he couldn't accomplish it. But the reality is America should not take --

STEPHANOPOULOS: But if he said no, you'd go in.

GIULIANI: I didn't say we'd go in, I said I wouldn't take that option off the table.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, well, you actually said, "I would take that option."

GIULIANI: I said I would keep that option open.

STEPHANOPOULOS: No, you said --

GIULIANI: In any event --

STEPHANOPOULOS: -- "If we had a chance to take bin Laden, we've got to do it ourselves, because we're not sure if someone else is going to do it correctly. Yeah, I think I would take that option."

GIULIANI: Well, I would take that option if I thought there was no other way to crush Al Qaeda, no other way to crush the Taliban, and no other way to be able to capture bin Laden.

Romney followed Giuliani by stressing that "America always maintains our options to do whatever we think is in the best interests of America," but simultaneously criticized Obama for articulating the option he had just said must remain on the table:

ROMNEY: It's wrong for a person running for the president of the United States to get on TV and say "we're going to go into your country unilaterally." Of course America always maintains our options to do whatever we think is in the best interests of America. But we don't go out and say: "Ladies and gentlemen of Germany, if ever there was a problem in your country, and we didn't think you were doing the right thing, we reserve the right to come in and get 'em out." We don't say those things. We keep our options quiet. We do not go out and say to a nation which is working with us, where we've collaborated and they are our friend and we're trying to support Musharraf and strengthen him and his nation, that instead that we intend to go in there and potentially bring out a unilateral attack.

The New York Times reported on August 6 that "[b]oth Mr. Romney and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Giuliani criticized Mr. Obama for a speech in which he threatened to send American troops into Pakistan without that nation's approval," adding: "But later, under questioning, both said that as president they would keep open that very option, although they said Mr. Obama had been imprudent to raise the prospect of invading an ally."

But other print outlets reporting on the Republicans' attacks left out the key fact that both Giuliani and Romney had acknowledged agreeing that the United States should retain the option to act against bin Laden in Pakistan over Musharraf's objections. An August 6 USA Today article reported that "Romney and Giuliani criticized Democratic contender Barack Obama for publicly threatening to take unilateral military action in Pakistan against al-Qaeda targets if the Musharraf regime refused to act." The article quoted Romney's attack, but omitted his and Giuliani's later comments:

Romney and Giuliani criticized Democratic contender Barack Obama for publicly threatening to take unilateral military action in Pakistan against al-Qaeda targets if the Musharraf regime refused to act. At a Democratic debate nearly two weeks earlier, the Illinois senator also said he was willing to sit down with such U.S. foes as Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.

"In one week he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies," Romney said. "He's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."

Also participating in the debate were U.S. representatives Duncan Hunter of California and Tom Tancredo of Colorado, and former governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin.

An August 6 Los Angeles Times article noted that Giuliani criticized Obama despite "agree[ing] that taking on Al Qaeda unilaterally in Pakistan was 'an option that should remain open.' " The article also quoted Romney's attack on Obama, but did not note his later comments:

There were other barbed moments. Romney fired a well-rehearsed line about Obama's recent remarks that he would consider meeting with several notorious dictators and that he might take action against Al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan without approval from that nation's leader.

"In one week he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies," Romney mocked. "I mean, he's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."

Obama's campaign was quick to return fire to Romney's riff.

"The fact that the same Republican candidates who want to keep 160,000 American troops in the middle of a civil war couldn't agree that we should take out Osama bin Laden if we had him in our sights proves why Americans want to turn the page on the last seven years of Bush-Cheney foreign policy," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton.

[...]

Referring to last week's devastating bridge collapse in Minneapolis, the GOP rivals found common ground in insisting that increased private investment from cutting taxes would provide more money to repair the nation's failing infrastructure. And they teamed up in turning their aim at the Democratic Party's presidential field.

Though Giuliani agreed that taking on Al Qaeda unilaterally in Pakistan was "an option that should remain open," he said Obama "didn't express it the right way."

An August 5 Associated Press article reported just Romney's attack:

Romney, too, was eager to criticize Democrats. His chosen target was Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who said recently he would be willing to meet with the leaders of Cuba, North Korea and Iran in his first year in office, and declared in a speech he would order military action to capture terrorists in Pakistan if that nation's president did not.

"I mean, in one week he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies," said Romney. "I mean, he's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."

Obama's campaign spokesman responded promptly. "Before he makes more false accusations, Mitt Romney should tell us why he believes we should keep 160,000 American troops in the middle of someone else's civil war but not take out Osama bin Laden if we had him in our sights," said Bill Burton.

Giuliani provided a rare moment of laughter, dodging a question about the defining mistake of his life with a quip.

A separate August 5 Associated Press "analysis" of the debate also left out any mention Romney's and Giuliani's positions on Pakistan, instead describing Romney's attack on Obama as one of the "brightest moments of the debate" and "[p]otentially the most memorable line":

The brightest moments of the debate may have taken place when the candidates turned their fire toward their Democratic counterparts. Potentially the most memorable line came when Romney attacked Democrat Barack Obama for first suggesting he would talk to hostile foreign leaders and then raising the potential of going into Pakistan to root out terrorists.

"He's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week," said Romney.

That assault cheered some strategists who said it could mark the beginning of a phase where GOP candidates go on the offensive.

The Washington Post noted just Romney's attacks in its August 6 article:

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), in particular, was singled out for saying last week that he would act against terrorists in Pakistan without the support of its president. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney contrasted those comments with Obama's remark during a recent debate that he would be willing to meet with all foreign leaders.

"I mean, in one week he went from saying he's going to sit down, you know, for tea, with our enemies, but then he's going to bomb our allies," Romney said. "He's gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove in one week."

Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama, quickly responded that "the fact that the same Republican candidates who want to keep 160,000 American troops in the middle of a civil war couldn't agree that we should take out Osama bin Laden if we had him in our sights, proves why Americans want to turn the page on the last seven years of Bush-Cheney foreign policy."

Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani sparked loud applause when he declared that "the knee-jerk liberal Democratic reaction -- raise taxes to get money -- very often is a very big mistake." And Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) declared his disappointment in the Democratic push to end the war in Iraq.