The Diplomacy Gap

What we need right now more than anything in the world...our only and last hope really, is a president who can regain the respect of the world and gain allies to strengthen our chances at diplomatic sanctions.

Let's look at the still-viable candidates:

McCain: Is seen worldwide as "McBush" and that friends is a dead end street.

Obama: is seen worldwide as that young guy that nobody knows. Not looking great there either.

Clinton: is known, respected and in many cases even loved by foreign dignitaries and has weight to sway potential allies.

Hmmmmm....

Tough choice.

Hey Sil, how about Hillary (or that other Clinton) as Sec of State?

Obama: is seen worldwide as that young guy that nobody knows. Not looking great there either.

You must have been hiding under a rock during Obama's World Tour a few weeks back...

They patted him on the back. That isn't the same as knowing him and having an established relationship with him like they do Clinton.

Big difference when you come knocking on the door in the darkness of night begging for a cup of sugar..

Clinton as Sec of State? Yeah, OK. If The Conservative voice doesn't bury Obama after he's nominated and ruin our chances of a win this Fall with the Edward's-like Sinclair story coming soon, yeah, Clinton as Obama's Secrertary of State sounds fine.

But I doubt the actual winner if Obama is nominated (McCain) will appoint Hillary as Sec of State. But we can always keep our fingers crossed.

That isn't the same as knowing him and having an established relationship with him like they do Clinton.

Bill Clinton.

Andrew Sullivan has an interesting take on it, painting Bush as the Reverse-Carter:

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily...

<font size=-1>"A reader imagines a senior Russian official basking in the Georgia invasion, and reminiscing fondly about the man who helped make it all possible:

"What American president could possibly have done more for us? He's destroyed the once solid American rapport with the Europeans, with his government more distrusted now than the Chinese. He's united the Middle East against America and destroyed forever America's authority to act there unilaterally. He will yet attack Iran, which would be the biggest boon for us of all. He will destroy their reactors, and we will sell them new ones, and fortify our gas alliance on a Moscow to Tehran axis. All of this opens the door for Russia to reassert itself precisely just as Russia rebuilds following a decade of uncertainty.

George W. Bush is exactly the president Russia would have wished for, the man who paves the way for Russia's reemergence with his own crass heavy-handedness. I remember when crass heavy-handedness was the Kremlin's forte!"
Carter deeply weakened the US by fecklessness, naivete and inaction. Bush has weakened the US far more by fecklessness, naivete and extreme, ill-considered, badly managed action.

The antidote to Carter was Reagan. The antidote to Bush is Obama."</font>

False dichotomy in the start of this thread. Enough "bullying" BS, already.

Since McCain has zero chance of winning, the only discussion that should be held about diplomacy is how will it be conducted by the Obama Administration. By guess is that most of world believes that he will be an easy mark to get what they want such as treaties that harm the U.S. economy more than anyone else or agreesments that the rest of the world can use to nitpick the U.S.

Since the Republicans and Neo-cons are headed to the ash heap of History, the only discussion should be on what the progressives will be doing since the STate Department will clearly be given to the progressive, rich white branch of the Democratic Party.

If this is an example of an attitude born of "experience", then I'd predict that under a McCain presidency we'll be at war on at least one other front by 2010. I'll take relative youth and ability to form good judgements over age and inflexibility any day of the week.

Only fools assume Obama has a better ability than McCain to form good judgments. Obama is better off saying that he has less experience than _Bush_, in addition to saying that McCain's "experience" means simply incumbency (!).

"the STate Department will clearly be given to the progressive, rich white branch of the Democratic Party"

They're the ones feeding the Obama cult (as they have since well before Super Tuesday) along with college-age kids. Note that the affluent progressives are likely being rewarded by Obama's "doughnut hole" Social Security tax plan. You do know about that, don't you? (Leave the current cap in place; introduce the tax as well for incomes above $250,000; leave alone income between these two values.)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/0...

(Note that the content in that story is misleading: "Fully eliminating the payroll tax cap would provide more than enough income to keep Social Security solvent for more than 75 years"; what matters is when deficits begin to be run by the program, in 2016-2017 currently, at which point new federal taxes or debt must begin to be put into effect in order to pay benefits in full.)

"Bill Clinton"~ Chris
*****

Next to every great man stands an equally great woman. I love how people will at first use that Hillary was too involved in Bill's administration to paint her out as a ballcutter. Then when it is equally as convenient, they flip flop and cite that she had nothing to do with Bill's successes..

The beloved facts are that yes, Hillary was very involved in her husband's adiminstration. As an attorney, and his very keen and smart wife, she was de facto one of his top advisors.

In addition, it fell on her to welcome and ease foreign dignitaries when they would visit the US. Diplomacy often fell on her shoulders. So her qualifications are there in spades. She was The First Lady and one of Bill's closest advisors.

Personally, next to the Boy Wonder and McBush, Hillary Clinton's proven ability to mediate and work her way through difficult situations is looking pretty damn good about right now..

DLS: "Only fools assume Obama has a better ability than McCain to form good judgments."

Only fools imagine they can pass off blanket, unsupportable statements as meaningful.