Mack, Cruz Back Romney on Middle East Attacks

By Julie Sobel  //  September 17, 2012 | 12:28 p.m.

In the wake of Mitt Romney's criticism of President Obama's response to the attacks in the Middle East last week, former Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra was the only Senate candidate to echo the criticism.

But over the past several days, a few more Republican Senate candidates backed Romney on the turmoil abroad.

In Florida, GOP Rep. Connie Mack criticized both Obama and his opponent, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, on foreign policy. The Orlando Sentinel:

The Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, has joined the call of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and a handful of other conservatives criticizing President Barack Obama's handling of the new crisis in the Middle East.

...

Here's the statement Mack's campaign released Thursday night:

"With riots in North Africa and in Venezuela it is clear that international-terrorist movements are thumbing their nose at America all over the world. We need a foreign policy that does not leave our allies wondering where we stand. Instead of spending precious time "investigating" the tragedies of Libya as Bill Nelson suggests, we need leaders who will take decisive action to defend our nation and our allies and who will always stand for freedom.

"It's time for the President to act decisively."

Texas GOP nominee Ted Cruz, speaking at the Values Voters Summit, also weighed in on the recent attacks. The Dallas Morning News:

Ted Cruz, the tea-party-approved nominee for Senate, echoed Mitt Romney's critique of Obama-era policy in the Middle East on Friday, telling a conservative gathering that the president has weakened the U.S. and all but abandoned its biggest ally in the region. "There are radicals throughout the world -- Islamic terrorists that would murder each and every one of us. And it says something that we have a president of the United States that is utterly unable to utter the words 'radical Islamic terrorist,'" Cruz, the GOP nominee to succeed Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, told several thousand activists at the annual Values Voters Summit. "If memory serves, it wasn't a random collection of Boy Scouts on those airplanes" on Sept. 11, 2001, he added.

Cruz is certainly on solid ground aligning himself with Romney in deep red Texas. And Mack has consistently cozied up to Romney, campaigning with him during the primaries and has repeatedly said a variation of, "If Mitt Romney wins, I win." However, that doesn't necessarily look like the case: A poll released last week showed both Romney and Mack losing in Florida, but Mack lagging by a much bigger margin than the GOP presidential nominee.

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