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Top Democrats remain defensive on Obama’s Iran policy

Neil Munro White House Correspondent
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As former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stepped up his criticism Tuesday of President Obama‘s equivocal response to Iran’s aggressive moves against Israel, leading Democrats ramped up their rhetoric as they struggled to defend the president.

Romney’s criticisms of Obama’s policies “are dishonest, disingenuous, dangerous [and] serve no other purpose than partisan politics,” said Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has a reputation for being a pugnacious partisan liberal.

Obama’s record “is stellar,” said former Democratic representative Robert Wexler, who leads a Democratic effort to bolster support in the influential Jewish community. Romney is seeking support from the same Jewish voting bloc.

Iran is increasingly isolated because of Obama’s diplomatic initiatives, Wexler said, adding that “We see the fruit of the president policies being borne out at this point.”

Iranian officials, however, have applauded the departure of U.S. forces from Iraq. They are promising to destroy Israel. They contine to provide support to the embattled dictator in Syria. And they are pressing ahead with development of nuclear weapons that would likely spark a Middle Eastern nuclear arms race.

The midday Tuesday press conference was organized by the Democratic National Committee. (RELATED: Full coverage of the Obama presidency)

Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse joined in the criticism of the GOP leaders, saying Romney’s criticism of Obama’s policies shows that he is ignoring Obama’s pro-Israel statements and “is not aware of the Googles or the YouTubes.”

The event was scheduled as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee wraps up its annual meeting in Washington D.C. Much of the event has been focused on Iran’s rush to develop nuclear weapons.

The PR offensive is intended to bolster Obama’s shaky poll numbers among American Jewish voters. Their community is significant, despite its small numbers, because they are concentrated in a few swing states including Florida and Pennsylvania, and because they donate heavily to political candidates.

Obama and his deputies also want to delay any defensive strikes from being launched by Israel until after the November election, partly because any further escalation in the Iran-caused crisis will likely drive up gasoline prices.

Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Rick Santorum have all slammed Obama’s response to the Iranian threat.

They have charged him with disregarding the so-called Green Movement protests in 2009 that threatened Iran’s Muslim theocracy, and with undermining Israel’s standing and failing to push back against the anti-Semitic Islamist forces that are rising to power in Egypt, Libya, Turkey and other Muslim countries.

Schumer repeatedly declared that Obama supports Israel.

“There are no if, ands or buts — he will not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons,” Schumer claimed.

But the White House has not announced any opposition to Iran building a capability for producing nuclear weapons.

Israeli and Arab governments fear that an Iranian nuclear capability, in the form of a a few crude nuclear bombs, will deter outside attack on its facilities during a so-called “breakout” when it is manufacturing and testing missile-carried nuclear weapons.

Schumer also jeered at Gingrich, saying Romney’s criticism of Obama is “like Newt Gingrich’s promise to bring the price of gasoline down to $2.50 — it is empty rhetoric with no real plan behind it.”

Romney wrote an op-ed, published in Tuesday’s Washington Post, describing his plan to deny nuclear weapons to the Iranian government.

“The same Islamic fanatics who took our diplomats hostage [in 1979] are racing to build a nuclear bomb. Obama, America’s most feckless president since Carter, has declared such an outcome unacceptable, but his rhetoric has not been matched by an effective policy,” Romney wrote.

“Until Iran ceases its nuclear-bomb program, I will press for ever-tightening sanctions … speak out on behalf of the cause of democracy in Iran and support Iranian dissidents who are fighting for their freedom. … I will buttress my diplomacy with a military option that will persuade the ayatollahs to abandon their nuclear ambitions.”

In contrast to Obama, whose first trip to the region took him to Egypt but not to Israel, Romney promised, “I will demonstrate our commitment to the world by making Jerusalem the destination of my first foreign trip.”

Romney is well-positioned to win support among Jews, partly because his ties to activist Christian groups are relatively weak. Many voters in the Jewish community remain suspicious of Christian groups, despite those groups’ strong ideological support for Israel and free markets.

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