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COLORADO SPRINGS - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday staunchlydefended his foreign policy record against Republican election-yearcriticism that he has overseen a decline in American power in theworld. Addressing graduating cadets of the Air Force Academy, Obama toutedhis decisions on pulling US forces out of Iraq, winding down theunpopular war in Afghanistan, and the raid that killed Osama binLaden - a record aides hope will help counter voter discontentabout a fragile economy and high unemployment. "For a decade, we have labored under the dark cloud of war. Now, wecan see the light of a new day on the horizon. The end of thesewars will shape your service and it will make our militarystronger," he said in Colorado Springs. Mitt Romney, Obama's presumptive Republican challenger in the Nov.6 election, has accused the Democratic president of weakeningAmerica on the world stage. Romney has chided Obama for setting a timeline for leavingAfghanistan and has called the Iraq withdrawal last year apremature move. The Iraq pullout followed a timetable put in placeby Obama's Republican predecessor, George W. Bush. Obama, in a weekend NATO summit in Chicago, acknowledged there wererisks in withdrawing US and allied forces from Afghanistan by theend of 2014. But at the Air Force Academy he pushed back hardagainst Romney's charge that America had lost ground under hisleadership. "Let's start by putting aside the tired notion that says ourinfluence has waned, that America is in decline. We've heard thattalk before," he said, declaring that his policies were seeding theway to a new "American Century." Fundraising Raise Obama was speaking at the start of a three-state political tourmainly geared to raising funds for his 2012 re-election campaign. The main focus of his two-day cross-country excursion - toColorado, California and Iowa - was campaigning, with threefundraisers due to raise at least $3 million on Wednesday and histhird big campaign rally of the 2012 season on Thursday. At his first stop in Denver, Obama kept up criticism of Romney'srecord as a job-cutting business executive, which the president andhis re-election campaign have made a prime target. "I think he has learned the wrong lessons," he said, pressing apopulist attack on what he called Romney's bad ideas for the USeconomy. "His working assumption is if CEOs and wealthy investorslike him get rich, the rest of us automatically will too." Obama, whose re-election in November hinges heavily on what happenswith the fragile economy and high unemployment, accused Republicansof "bamboozling folks into thinking that they are the responsible,fiscally disciplined party." Seeking to counter Republican charges of wasteful spending, Obama -speaking to a crowd of about 700 in a hotel ballroom - insistedthat the rate of spending has grown less under Democraticadministrations than under Republican ones. Polls show Obama and Romney, a former Massachusetts governor andprivate equity executive, locked in a close race, and the presidentoften comes in lower in the public's assessment of economicmanagement skills. Colorado is one of the pivotal swing states that Obama needs to winand one where he could face tough competition from Romney. It has traditionally voted Republican but Obama won it in 2008 andis fighting to hold it with appeals to young professionals and agrowing Hispanic population. From Denver, Obama headed to California to join an exclusive dinnerat a home in Atherton, near the tech hub Palo Alto, headlined byrock musicians David Crosby and Graham Nash. Then he is due toattend a reception for 1,100 people at a theater in nearby RedwoodCity featuring singer Ben Harper. On Thursday, he holds a fourth fundraiser and then returns toWashington via Iowa, another battleground state, where he willspeak about the clean energy sector at a wind turbine blademanufacturer, then hold a campaign event at the state fairgroundsin Des Moines. About 2 million people have donated to Obama's re-electioncampaign, and he is expected to match or exceed the $750 million heraised in the 2008 election cycle. According to the most recent campaign finance and political actioncommittee reports, Obama has raised $169 million and Romney hasraised $99 million. I am an expert from weldflange.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Weld Neck Flange , China Butt Weld Flange, Pipe Blind Flange,and more.
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