By JIM KUHNHENN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – His sights fixed firmly on securing a second term, President Barack Obama had hoped that the rest of the world would wait until after the election if it had to grow restless and demand his attention.
The eruptions in the streets of the Arab world, inflamed by an anti-Muslim video made in the U.S., mean Obama can put it off no longer. The protests are testing the president’s foreign policy skills and giving voters a pre-election view of how he handles a crisis.
The turmoil also offers an opportunity – a risky one – for Obama to appear presidential in the midst of the election campaign, to contrast himself with a challenger less experienced in foreign policy and to illustrate that being president is not just about being a steward of the economy.