DUBLIN, OH – Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said her impression after watching Mitt Romney speak recently is that "there's just nothing going on" with the Republican presidential nominee. She said his understanding of foreign policy not only lacks depth but diminishes U.S. standing abroad.
"He is so two-dimensional. I mean, up close and personal, there's just nothing going on," she said.
Speaking at a Women for Obama rally here just outside of Columbus, OH on Sunday, Albright told the crowd that she had recently been on hand when Romney delivered his address at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.
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"It's the sense that I've had throughout the campaign that it's unclear what [Romney] really believes in," Albright told reporters after the event. "I think when you contrast him with President Obama, who also gave a speech later there, and President Clinton, who spoke several times there, there is not, kind of, a sense of depth."
Albright also mentioned the video of Romney suggesting that 47 percent of Americans view themselves as victims, arguing that the comments "diminish us in many different ways" and that the former Massachusetts governor's rhetoric sounds like he wants to start another war.
Albright, who in 1996 was appointed by President Bill Clinton to become the first female secretary of state, has been an active surrogate for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. She has traveled to swing states across the country, often reaching out to women voters. Sunday's event came just two days before Ohio begins early voting -- and while she did mention women's issues -- most of her speech was aimed at discrediting Romney's foreign policy views.
The former top diplomat also defended the Obama administration’s handling of the recent attack on a U.S. Consulate in Libya, telling reporters, "I think they said what they knew, when they knew it."
The attack, which U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice originally said was spontaneous, has since been deemed by the administration as a coordinated and planned effort. The Romney campaign pounced on what they described as mixed messages.
White House senior adviser David Plouffe said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that it was not initially clear if the attack in Benghazi was an act of terror, while Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod said on CNN's "State of the Union" that, "The president called it an act of terror the day after it happened."
“The Obama White House and the Obama campaign can’t seem to get their stories straight on the attack on our consulate in Libya,” Romney spokesperson Ryan Williams said in press release.
“These inconsistencies raise even more questions about the confusion and mixed messages that have marked the White House’s response from the very beginning.”
Albright accused Republicans of politicizing the death of four Americans.
"It takes a while to know what all the facts are. So I believe that the administration is telling us what they know and they are being very careful not to get ahead of the whole investigative process," she said. "We also support the president's re-election because we want a chief executive who actually understands foreign policy."
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