A lot of Republican voters aren't crazy about their presidential field.

A new Pew Research Center survey found 51 percent of GOP or GOP-leaning registered voters rated their candidates excellent or good. 44 percent said they were fair or poor.

Four years ago, there was more enthusiasm. In January 2008, 68 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners liked their field.

This year's survey was conducted Jan. 4-8. 1,507 adults were polled, including 549 Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led, with 27 percent, followed by former Pennsylvania Sen.  Rick Santorum and and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, each with 16 percent. Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 12 percent.

Dakota Meyer made an endorsement in the presidential race, and it isn't the president who personally awarded him the Medal of Honor. Days before a McClatchy report cast doubt on the Marine Corps' version of his story, Meyer appeared in a YouTube video endorsing Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Meyer is one of "five American heroes" featured in the video.

The video shows footage of Meyer at a White House ceremony in September where President Barack Obama lauded Meyer for his bravery. The video then cuts to Meyer, who says, "I support Governor Rick Perry" and boasts that "the governor of Texas took the time to call me."

At the White House ceremony, it was Obama who thanked Meyer for answering the phone. When the White House called Meyer to let him know that he'd receive the medal, Meyer asked that the president call back during his lunch break.

No word whether it was a good time for Meyer to talk when Perry rang.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a leading congressional voice on military affairs, is not pleased with President Barack Obama's Iraqi troop withdrawal announcement.

 “I respectfully disagree with President Obama," Graham said.

"I feel all we have worked for, fought for, and sacrificed for is very much in jeopardy by today’s announcement," he added. "I hope I am wrong and the President is right, but I fear this decision has set in motion events that will come back to haunt our country.”

Democratic reaction was move favorable. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "I fully support the president."

And Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said that he was prepared to support keeping U.S. trainers in Iraq after 2011.

"But in light of Iraq’s refusal to eliminate the possibility that U.S. troops would face prosecutions in Iraqi courts, President Obama has made the right decision," Levin said.

The Republican presidential hopeful gives a foreign policy speech today in New Hampshire, pushing for a reduced U.S. presence in Afghanistan, which he says no longer poses the central terrorism threat to the U.S.

"Afghanistan was once the center of the terrorist threat to America. That is no longer the case," Huntsman said, according to remarks prepared for delivery. "After 6,000 lives lost and more than $1 trillion spent, it is time to bring our brave troops home. We could go from 100,000 boots on the ground to a much smaller footprint in a year, while leaving behind an adequate number of counterterrorist and intelligence functions and a facile special forces presence. And I believe we should."

Huntsman delivers the speech at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., where he hopes a win in the first-in-the-nation primary will propel his campaign to victory.

President Barack Obama today marked the 10th anniversary of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, noting that the US "in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks" went to war against al Qaeda and its Taliban protectors in Afghanistan."

"As we mark a decade of sacrifice, Michelle and I join all Americans in saluting the more than half a million men and women who have served bravely in Afghanistan to keep our country safe, including our resilient wounded warriors who carry the scars of war, seen and unseen. We honor the memory of the nearly 1,800 American patriots, and many coalition and Afghan partners, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan for our shared security and freedom. We pay tribute to our inspiring military families who have persevered at home with a loved one at war. And we are grateful to our tireless diplomats and intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement professionals who have worked these ten years to protect our country and save American lives.

President Barack Obama traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware today, offering condolences and "deep gratitude" to the families and colleagues of the 30 U.S. servicemen who were killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

The White House says Obama -- who didn't announce the trip until his helicopter had landed -- visited a building on base where approximately 250 family members and fellow servicemen and women of the fallen had gathered. The pool report says he met informally with family members, "offering his condolences for their loss and his deep gratitude for their sacrifice and service."

The families and servicemembers were there to attend to the return of the bodies of the 30 servicemen killed Saturday. Obama had been scheduled to announce new fuel standards for trucks at an event in Virginia, but scrapped those plans; instead, four helicopters carrying the president, staff and reporters landed at Dover just after noon.

The incident Saturday was the worst single-day toll for American forces in Afghanistan since U.S. troops entered the country nearly 10 years ago. It was one of largest tolls in a single incident of either the Afghan war or the fighting in Iraq.

The dead servicemen included 22 Navy SEALs, most of them members of SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorism unit that carried out the mission to find Osama Bin Laden. None of those involved in the Bin Laden raid were among the dead Saturday, U.S. officials have said.

President Barack Obama will address the nation on the war in Afghanistan at 8 pm EDT Wednesday.

He'll speak from the White House about his plans to start drawing down troop levels in Afghanistan. He'll then visit with troops on Thursday during a visit to Fort Drum, New York, home of the Army's 10th Mountain Division.

The future of any Senate debate on Libya became muddled Wednesday.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., said "I think it's very possible there won't be."

Not even on his resolution expressing support for the administration's Libya mission? "I don't know if it's needed," he said.

The Senate's next steps, if any, he said, are "up in the air."

Asked if any delay was because of constituent skepticism about the mission, Kerry said, "There's no pressure."

Kerry's comments to a  group of reporters came as Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who are foreign relations committee members, Wednesday unveiled their own Libya measure. It says Obama should request authorization from Congress before continuing U.S. military action in Libya.

The White House plans a detailed explanation of the mission by June 17, a deadline imposed by the House of Representatives last week.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee plans to get a Defense Department briefing on the mission at a closed meeting Thursday.

When he arrives in London later this week, President Barack Obama will join British Prime Minister David Cameron in announcing a a new joint effort to coordinate national security analysis and staretgy.

The National Security Strategy Board would be co-chaired by White House National Security Adviser Tom Donilon and British National Security Adviser Sir Peter Ricketts, according to U.S. and British officials in London who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcement.

Donilon flew to London Sunday ahead of Obama to finish the arrangements.

The joint-board would coordinate the two governments’ assessments of threats from terrorists and rogue nations, as well as developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the rapid changes emerging through the Arab Spring pro-democracy movements sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.

“The new board will allow us to look ahead and develop a shared view of emerging challenges, how we should deal with them, and how our current policy can adapt to longer term developments," said a statement from a British official.

“It reflects a welcome further development of our close relationship on foreign and defense business. Sharing the knowledge and insights of the experts in London and Washington will help both governments look ahead in an increasingly complex and fast moving world.”

House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday said President Barack Obama's plan to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan this summer should not be based on "political calcuations," as he and five other members of Congress visited Afghanistan.

After meeting with top military officials, including Gen. David Petraeus, top U.S. commander in Afthanistan, Boehner said that he was advised while "gains have been made in Afghanistan...they are fragile and reversible."

What's crucial, the Ohio Republican said, is that "we must remain steadfast in our commitment to the counterinsurgency strategy our commanders on the ground have put in place and to ensuring its success, rather than focusing on meeting arbitrary timetables for withdrawal.

"Any drawdown of U.S. troops must be based on the conditions on the ground," Boehner said, "not on political calculations."

Also on the trip are Reps. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, Mike Conaway, R-Texas, Tom Rooney, R-Fla., joe Heck, R-Nevada, and Dan Boren, D-Okla. They began the trip Saturday in Iraq.