Capitol Alert

RENO - In a sweeping defense of his foreign policy record, President Barack Obama said this afternoon that the United States is "safer and stronger and more respected in the world" than when he took office.

"Four years ago, I made you a promise," Obama told the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "I pledged to take the fight to our enemies, and renew our leadership in the world. As president, that's what I've done."

The Democratic president defended the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and the draw-down in Afghanistan, and his mention of the killing of Osama bin Laden drew applause from several thousand veterans gathered in Reno. Obama said the sanctions his administration has applied to Iran and North Korea are the strictest ever.

"Because we're leading around the world, people have a new attitude toward America. There's more confidence in our leadership," he said. "So this is the progress that we've made. Thanks to the extraordinary service of our men and women in uniform, we're winding down a decade of war; we're destroying the terrorist network that attacked us; we're strengthening the alliances that extend our values. And today, every American can be proud that the United States is safer and stronger and more respected in the world."

Obama's remarks came on one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in recent years, with a series of coordinated bombings and shootings killing more than 100 people in the country Monday.

Obama did not address the violence, but he defended his withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq, fulfilling a campaign promise he made in 2008.

David M. Howard, the political director for the California Association of Realtors, died Saturday, three weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer. He was 64.

"I'll remember how smart he was politically, and his shoot-from-the-hip style," said lobbyist Bob Giroux, a close friend of Howard's.

"He was very savvy. He knew everything about campaigns, from reading the polls to figuring out the messaging."

Howard served on the national advisory council of UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies and on the editorial board of the California Target Book, which handicaps elections. At the realtors association, he managed federal, state and local political action committees.

Prior to joining the California Association of Realtors in 2000, Howard worked for the California Association of Health Plans and AARP.

He is survived by his wife Deborah.

Dan Walters says that while California's unemployment rate has gone down, it's still high.

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See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

VIDEO: In today's report, Dan Walters applauds last week's job-growth report but says Californians are still looking at "a long row to hoe."

President Barack Obama is scheduled for two Bay Area fundraisers today, as David Siders reported here -- a dinner in Piedmont and a reception at Oakland's Fox Theatre.

Obama has also accepted an invitation to speak today at the national Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Reno.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who was raising funds Sunday in the Bay Area for his own campaign, is to speak at the VFW convention on Tuesday.

Back in Sacramento, California Highway Patrol Commissioner Joe Farrow, Board of Equalization Member George Runner and others mark the 10th anniversary of the Amber Alert system. That event starts at 10 a.m. at CHP headquarters, 601 N. 7th St.

Meanwhile, the No on Proposition 32 campaign is holding a presser to highlight opposition to the November ballot measure on campaign finance.

Listed speakers include Derek Cressman of California Common Cause, Trudy Schafer of the state League of Women Voters, Davis Fire Capt. Emily Lo, and Auburn teacher Lysa Sassman. The event starts at 10 a.m. at the League of Women Voters office at 1107 Ninth St. in Sacramento.

Unions have ponied up nearly $9 million so far to defeat the measure, which would ban payroll deductions from being used for political purposes, as Jon Ortiz reported in this State Worker blog post, and business sources have donated a little over $4 million in support.