Clinton Drives Debate on Foreign Policy bumped
It was in this moment that Clinton ran away with the debate. Listen to the
military, but it’s civilian leadership that controls the levers in this country.
She made the case for withdrawal from Iraq, putting it into a larger framework
of U.S. foreign policy around the globe. When the conversation turned to Iran,
Clinton broadened the issue while also saying she would ask for “massive
retaliation” if Israel was threatened. But she would also expand the umbrella
of our foreign policy to include a community and a world working together, which
includes serious diplomacy; but that she would not meet in the White House with
Iran’s Ahmanidejad. Anyone thinking this woman cannot be commander-in-chief
no longer thinks that way. Tonight proved why so many retired flag officers
are backing Hillary Clinton for president.
This was the first debate that Obama was on the hot seat. It showed. He was obviously surprised. On Rev. Wright
he took a direct hit. He couldn’t get off the treadmill and just kept making things
worse. On William Ayers he was tough and in your face, but it came off defensive
and clearly put him further off his stride. It was clear he wasn’t used to it.
Obama again dodged the D.C. gun question. “Constraint,” said Obama
on guns and city’s ability to police them. “My writing wasn’t on that particular
questionnaire,” was Obama’s response to Gibson’s question on whether he
replied personally back in the 1990s. Frankly, I believe Obama is wrong on this, because
Politico.com reported just the opposite. But one of the biggest challenges for Barack
Obama is his rambling. It’s not something that serves him in these debates.
This was one of those times.
Clinton’s difficult moment came on Bosnia, when Gibson showed a voter asking
how she could get his vote back, which she lost after the Bosnia brouhaha. Admitting
she was “embarrassed” by it was a clear moment for her, but she should have ended it there. The good news for her is that this came early on, with many
moments in which she elevated the debate and the discussion to come.
But the moment Clinton took Obama on regarding Wright was a thing of sheer beauty
and grace. It was something debate students should study. She waded into a very
difficult topic, modulating as she went, revealing her compassion, but also
clearly curious about how someone of faith, especially someone in political
life, though she didn’t put it that way, would sit in a church with a reverend
spewing such hatred. Her words were far more delicate and deadly effective.
Few could have done it better.
Another moment that Clinton owned, and there were many, was Social Security
and taxes. She was concise, while Obama dissembled, then got into trouble. This
gave Clinton an opening to tick off the things she’d do. Her mastery of detail
Senator Obama cannot come close to matching.
Will this change anything? We shall see. However, Obama hasn’t had this type
of questioning before. No doubt his supporters will be upset, while Clinton’s
supporters likely feel it was long overdue. The truth is that Gibson and Stephanopoulos asked questions that have been on people’s minds, but nobody else in the media
had the spine to bring up.
Oh, and they both bailed on the D.C. gun issue, which is before the Supreme Court. After all, it’s still Democratic primary season.
Comments are closed.