Barack Obama invoked his Republican challenger's 'Romneyshambles' visit to the United Kingdom on Thursday night, as he accepted his party's nomination for president.
Seeking to capitalise on the American public's generally positive view of his handling of foreign policy, Obama mocked Mitt Romney for a series of gaffes he made while on a short foreign tour in July.
"My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy, but from all that we’ve seen and heard, they want to take us back to an era of blustering and blundering that cost America so dearly," he said.
"After all, you don’t call Russia our number one enemy – and not al-Qaeda – unless you’re still stuck in a Cold War time warp.
He added: "You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally. "
On his visit to London, Romney created a storm of bad headlines from the British press and a mild rebuke from David Cameron after he questioned Britain's preparation for the Games.
The comments and Romney's subsequent backtracking, dubbed a 'Romneyshambles', overshadowed his trip to Britain and torpedoed his attempt to show voters back home that he was a deft diplomat.
In his speech on Thursday night, Obama offered less lofty rhetoric than his convention speech of 2008, and recognised that four years in office had changed people's perception of him.
"I recognise that times have changed since I first spoke to this convention," Obama said. "The times have changed, and so have I. I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the president."
"I never said this journey would be easy, and I won't promise that now. Yes, our path is harder -- but it leads to a better place. Yes our road is longer -- but we travel it together. We don't turn back."
