Obama, Romney plunge back into campaigning

RENO, Nev. -- Plunging back into divisive politics, President Barack Obama declared yesterday he has kept the United States safe while suggesting that Republican Mitt Romney has offered little to show he is ready to be commander in chief. Mere days after a massacre in Colorado silenced the campaign in deference to the grieving, the bruising fight was on again.

"As we look ahead to the challenges that we face as a nation and the leadership that's required, you don't just have my words, you have my deeds," Obama told the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He jabbed often at Romney without ever naming him.

With both men going after the military vote, the Democratic president sought to make the most of his signature national security policies, chiefly ending the unpopular war in Iraq, winding down the war in Afghanistan and the killing of al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.

He mocked Romney's opposition to the 2014 timeline for ending the Afghan war, saying: "When you're commander in chief, you owe the troops a plan."

For at least one week, foreign policy moved near the front of the economy-oriented campaign, as presumptive Republican nominee Romney was heading to England, Israel and Poland to show some standing on the world stage. Obama's address to the veterans group was intended, in part, to undercut that trip before it began by raising doubts about Romney's readiness.

Romney was to address the VFW today, before leaving the country.

The Republican, too, was back at the rhetorical attack, telling donors in California that Obama is "out of ideas and out of excuses."