(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121008_romney-foreign-va-4x3.photoblog600.jpg)Charles Dharapak / APRepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney \arrives to deliver a foreign policy speech at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., Monday, Oct. 8, 2012.By Michael O'Brien, NBC NewsFollow @mpoindc (https://twitter.com/mpoindc)
Updated at 12:20 p.m. ET: Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama of leading a rudderless foreign policy, saying Monday that the threat of conflict in the Middle East is greater than it was four years ago.
The Republican presidential nominee delivered a major policy address at the Virginia Military Institute, which was intended to distinguish Romney from Obama on questions of foreign policy, while also casting Romney as a steady, presidential and plausible commander-in-chief for voters.
Recommended: First Thoughts: Has the race changed? (http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/08/14293246-first-thoughts-has-the-race-changed?lite)
NBCNews