Romney will be judged on actions, not media coverage

Riding a wave of media approval, Obama shows no outward signs of worry about the increasingly volatile situation for Americans in the Middle East. On the same day he announced the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya, and as protesters returned to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the president flew to Las Vegas for a little campaigning. …

Whatever his outer confidence, though, Obama is in a potentially dangerous situation. Americans don’t like to see foreign mobs scale the wall of an embassy, tear down the American flag and replace it with an Islamic banner. And they’re horrified by the murder of American diplomats. The Obama administration’s initial response to trouble in Egypt — a statement fretting about an Internet video that might hurt Muslim feelings — really did sound weak and irrelevant.

If troubles continue — if the Arab Spring continues to unravel — Obama’s policy of restraint could increasingly look like impotence. His much-touted outreach to the Muslim world could look naive and misguided. And Romney’s critique of Obama’s leadership — that it has often involved apologizing for past American actions — could seem more on target.