I have to wonder if Sen. Obama’s decision to pick Sen. Joe Biden, party and Washington insider extraordinaire, as his running mate wasn’t solidified this past week when Dick Morris branded him “the new Jimmy Carter.” Certainly, in my opinion and in the minds of many, Morris was right when he wrote,
Last week raised important questions about whether Barack Obama is strong enough to be president. On the domestic political front, he showed incredible weakness in dealing with the Clintons, while on foreign and defense questions, he betrayed a lack of strength and resolve in standing up to Russia’s invasion of Georgia. . . .
Harsh? I don’t think so. As Morris continues,
Consider first the domestic and political. Bill and Hillary Clinton have no leverage over Obama. Hillary can’t win the nomination. She doesn’t control any committees. If she or her supporters tried to disrupt the convention or demonstrate outside, she would pay a huge price among the party faithful. . . . But, without having any leverage or a decent hand to play, the Clintons bluffed Obama into amazing concessions. . . .If Obama can’t stand up to the Clintons, after they have been defeated, how can he measure up to a resurgent Putin who has just achieved a military victory? When the Georgia invasion first began, Obama appealed for “restraint” on both sides. He treated the aggressive lion and the victimized lamb even-handedly. His performance was reminiscent of the worst of appeasement at Munich, where another dictator got away with seizing another breakaway province of another small neighboring country, leading to World War II. After two days, Obama corrected himself, spoke of Russian aggression and condemned it. But his initial willingness to see things from the other point of view and to buy the line that Georgia provoked the invasion by occupying a part of its own country betrayed a world view characterized by undue deference to aggressors.
As indeed he deferred to the Clintons’ aggression. This, I suspect, is where Sen. Biden comes in. Whatever his flaws, he’s definitely a strong character; I think, if Sen. Obama wins in November, that Sen. Biden will be a powerful voice in his ear over the next four years, and a man who will wield considerable influence in our government. Since I happen to believe that Sen. Biden is much more prepared and qualified to be president than Sen. Obama is, I don’t think that’s at all bad. And while I do believe, as I said in the previous post, that selecting Sen. Biden will tie Sen. Obama even more closely to the leadership of the Democratic Congress, at least Sen. Biden represents the realist stream in foreign policy among that leadership. Were I an Obama Democrat, I probably wouldn’t like that very much; as one who generally votes Republican, however, I find that reassuring.Which of course raises the big question which will be answered over the next two months: has naming Sen. Biden to the ticket accomplished anything politically for Sen. Obama besides reassuring people who aren’t going to vote for him anyway? Stay tuned—we’ll find out.
It is fairly humorous that we have some Bush/Cheney similarities in the Obama/Biden team selection. Both men chose strong Vice Presidents who offset their weaknesses. While I have loads of bad things to say about what that duo did, it would be ridiculous not the acknowledge the strength of that team. It is my belief that Obama is taking a page out of the Republican handbook and has picked a person that doesn’t perhaps help him win any particular demographics, but would be extremely helpful should he obtain the office of the Presidency.
As for the Russian crisis, I am unsure on how Obama would have won any points in this matter. Let’s say that he came out firmly and stated that Russia should withdraw immediately. What exactly would that have accomplished? Would the Russians have cowered at the thunder of Obama and retreated? No. But by biding his time, Obama allowed himself to be seen by a potential ally as someone who would try to reach across the world and try to understand their perspective.
Which, as a candidate running for President is exactly what he should do. Carrying the big stick is still the President’s job.
Anyone catch President Bush’s comments on the situation during the Olympics? He made some suggestions for the next president on how to handle situations like this. Pretty frank stuff, but it should be noted that Obama’s reactions seemed to be on the same page as Bush’s comments.
Take care all!
Agreed on the first paragraph; disagreed on the second.