Obama likens his foreign policy to that of Bush Sr., JFK, Reagan

[subsuelo]

Haaretz

Senator Barack Obama said Friday he would return the country to the more traditional foreign policy efforts of past presidents, such as George H.W. Bush, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

At a town hall event at a local high school gymnasium, Obama praised George H.W. Bush - father of the president - for the way he handled the first Gulf War: with a large coalition and carefully defined objectives.

Obama began a six-day bus tour through Pennsylvania, the largest remaining primary prize in the contest with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Sen. John McCain is the Republican nominee-in-waiting.

"The truth is that my foreign policy is actually a return to the traditional bipartisan realistic policy of George Bush's father, of John F. Kennedy, of, in some ways, Ronald Reagan, and it is George Bush that's been naive and it's people like John McCain and, unfortunately, some Democrats that have facilitated him acting in these naive ways that have caused us so much damage in our reputation around the world," he said.

[DemVet]

1. Damn. Obama = Reagan in Foreign Policy.

Geez, like the RW isn't going to make a play with that statement.

[EFerrari]

3. Because the RW hated Reagan, right?

[JoFerret]

20. Conservative lite

As Paul Tsongas once described Bill Clinton

Obama is Mr. Pander Bear.

[roguevalley]

38. I suppose this means he will talk to others. Nice improvement.

[Oleladylib]

2. Reagan's and JFK's were NOTHING alike.! Give me a break!

is he reading the Reader's Digest version of history or what?

[Submariner]

4. He's referring to the wiliingness for diplomacy, as opposed

to the present idiot-in-chief who couldn't negotiate his way out of a dirty diaper.

[WinkyDink]

11. "Diplomacy" as in "keeping Americans hostage until after Reagan's election"?

"Diplomacy" as in "secretly sending your former NSA to Iran with a key-shaped cake and a Bible, before he comes home to attempt suicide"?
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D71539F932A25752C0A961948260
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE6D71031F931A35750C0A961948260

[Benhurst]

5. Take that back!

Even The Reader's Digest, right-wing organization that it is, would produce a better history than that.

[niceypoo]

43. I am curious how Obama supporters would react if Hillary said this...

I can only imagine the vitriol and, 'She's a neocon,' we would hear for two solid weeks.

[SunsetDreams]

6. hmmm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYBaiXQoI5Q

http://www.barackobama.com/2007/08/01/remarks_of_senator_obama_the_w_1.php (with video)

[anamandujano]

7. It's not exactly praise of Repukes. Well, maybe it is.

He had to throw in JFK to make Teddy happy, else there might have been a sweep.

[cd3dem]

8. BO thinks speaking positively about republicans makes him appealing????

Even when McCain speaks nicely about democrats he is sure to say he thinks their policies are different... why would any democrat wish to match their policies with a republican? other than thinking it gets them votes!

[UALRBSofL]

9. OMG Obama said that. I'm not slamming but

His foreign policy plan in his debates 3 or 4 debates back were nothing like Reagan's. What happened all of the sudden? It's like he changed from saying I'll meet with any leader whomever they are without pre-conditions. Of course here in Florida that pissed off the Cuban Americans. Now, he has changed it to I'll meet with leaders under blah-blah conditions. This change is like he is a copy cat of Clinton. What gives???

[Cant trust em]

31. like Reagan in some ways

was what was said. He didn't say that he wanted to copy every thing the man did. To keep in context with the rest of the quote he's talking about building a large coalition to achieve specific goals. It's a pretty broad theme.

[WinkyDink]

10. Grenada; Iran-Contra; even Iraq One was based on a lie: doesn't evidence suggest Kuwait WAS

stealing Iraq's oil via digging?

And JFK, God rest his soul, WAS a Cold Warrior who got lucky that Khruschev "blinked".

Of course, Obama's real message is to suggest that he, too, will become respected and possibly iconic.

And then there is that need to refer positively to Reagan......(Calling all "Reagan Democrats"!)

[davidinalameda]

12. nice way to cherry pick the article

Papa Bush didn't go into Iraq by himself, he had broad support at home and at the UN

Reagan had NATO behind him during his 8 years as did JFK during his much too short presidency

Foreign policy has always been a bipartisan effort

the trend ended with Clinton and Bosnia; he went in without the support of the repugs, which was a mistake on their part but if he had waited, he could have forced their hand through public opinion

[anamandujano]

17. Face it, it's a huge gaffe.

Now you'll have to stop carrying on about Hillary wanting to be McCain's veep. Let's see if all those huffy people who huffed against Hillary, will huff against this one.

Obama should be in the Repuke primary against McCain.

[davidinalameda]

19. it's not a gaffe in any way

he's right

we need to go back to a bipartisan approach to foreign policy

[hell-bent]

21. Right on!

Yes, it is a huge gaffe; however, KO and the other whores over at MSNBC will spin it like it was a brilliant analysis by BO. Perhaps Tweety will get another thrill up his leg again? :evilgrin:

[Cant trust em]

28. What gaffe?

He criticized McCain and Bush in the statement. Did you read past the headline?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

13. Obama sure likes those Republican prseidents doesn't he?

[Bensthename]

14. What is the stragey by both candidates to build up the repubes?

Maybe to grab the indi's.. I dont know.

[youknowmenotdlc]

15. As much as I loathed Reagan and Bush I

There foreign policy positions were far more benign than the warchimp's. It may have been a clumsy comparison for Barack to make but the point is well taken by anybody with a grasp of recent US history.

This is not a defense of the Reagan Bush years, it's simply the realization that although the reagan BushI policies were car wrecks, BushII's decisions have been trainwrecks.

Sidenote: If made dictator for a day I would put NoamcChomsky in charge of our foreign policy but in this election year we aren't gonna get an enlightened contraction of our military industrial complex, we only have a choice between Mcain's continuing saber rattling and our condidate's more sensible if not perfect approaches.

[JCMach1]

18. Hell no they were not more benign...

Go back and review the history...

[JCMach1]

16. What an idiot... yes, let's bring on the death squads,

secret CIA deals, and a new war almost every year of your presidency. :wtf:

There is NO WAY anyone calling themselves a progressive can let such stupidity on foreign policy stand.

All I can say to Obama at this point is HELL NO!!!

"...It's George Bush that's been naïve and its people like John McCain and unfortunately some Democrats who have facilitated him acting in these naïve ways that have caused us so much damage in our reputation around the world.” ... http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/03/28/politics/fromtheroad/entry3978821.shtml

No, Mr. Obama it's you who is naive.

[hell-bent]

23. It appears that BO is doing a bit

of groveling in an attempt to appeal to the independent and Rethug vote. He hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell of getting Repukes to vote for him. Oh yes, in the primary they did to stop Hillary.

[OHdem10]

26. BO is bleeding Republican and Independent support because

of the Pastor Disaster.

It is the Republicans and Independents who have put him where he is.
If he is bleeding as a Democratic Pollster on Fox News explained
last night; then he has to go to his base. GOP and Independents.
How better to this than call out their Icons.

[JCMach1]

37. Would buy that argument, but he has a pattern of praising Reagan

in one form or another...

I have been seeing red since I heard this... His whole argument here is insane...

In case everyone forgot what a wonderful president Ronnie was: http://thesyndrome.com/2004/06/06/ronald-reagans-painful-legacy-the-truth-hurts/

[MonkeyFunk]

22. I'm just imagining

if Clinton had said this - we'd have 40 threads on it each with 100 recs.

[hell-bent]

24. And, 40 more threads for her to drop out! :>)

[Benhurst]

25. Exactly. What's he running as -- Reagan Lite?

:puke:

[krabigirl]

27. Here we go again, more praise of Repuke policies. Reagan's policies sucked, what is he thinking?

[Ravy]

29. Yeah, *those* were the days....

:puke:

[Cant trust em]

30. Again, I'm not seeing the big controversy here

He says that before invading a foreign country he would have formed "a large coalition and carefully defined objectives". I'm not seeing a problem with this.

[1776Forever]

32. OK - I am NOT a fan of Regan - but I know that most Repub's worship him so.........

As Hagel has said: Barack is the best choice to unite the country.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-abrams/hagel-barack-best-to-uni_b_94003.html

I think he uses Reagan's name now and then to bring the Repub's to the table. Also as a Doctorate student I know there is a level where one reaches of looking at a person or issue without forming a preconditioned opinion. I think Barack sees these issues as one where he is looking at them from afar and not forming his strategy with any malice toward anyone who has come before but taking the best of all of these theories to form his own. I personally can see that this might be a good thing if he continues to stress peace over war and making our military strong so we can address future issues if they arise.

[F.Gordon]

33. Obama is going to invade Grenada?

Why does Obama keep using past Presidents as a "reference guide"? If his foreign policy is all about Diplomacy.... why can't he just say that? Shoving the Pedestal up the ass of two disgusting repukes doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

[Hoof Hearted]

34. Obama sure has the love for Republicans, doesn't he?

Good lord, he's an embarrassing disaster of a candidate. The first McGovern of the 21st century.

[roseBudd]

35. smooth move on obama's part, he's good

If anyone on DU is deluded enough to think the truth gets someone elected in the GE you are sadly mistaken.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

36. "Obama's Sweeping Foreign Policy Critique"

Obama is offering the most sweeping liberal foreign-policy critique we've heard from a serious presidential contender in decades. It cuts to the heart of traditional Democratic timidity. "It's time to reject the counsel that says the American people would rather have someone who is strong and wrong than someone who is weak and right," Obama said in a January speech. "It's time to say that we are the party that is going to be strong and right." (The Democrat who counseled that Americans wanted someone strong and wrong, not weak and right? That was Bill Clinton in 2002.)

But to understand what Obama is proposing, it's important to ask: What, exactly, is the mind-set that led to the war? What will it mean to end it? And what will take its place?

To answer these questions, I spoke at length with Obama's foreign-policy brain trust, the advisers who will craft and implement a new global strategy if he wins the nomination and the general election. They envision a doctrine that first ends the politics of fear and then moves beyond a hollow, sloganeering "democracy promotion" agenda in favor of "dignity promotion," to fix the conditions of misery that breed anti-Americanism and prevent liberty, justice, and prosperity from taking root. An inextricable part of that doctrine is a relentless and thorough destruction of al-Qaeda. Is this hawkish? Is this dovish? It's both and neither -- an overhaul not just of our foreign policy but of how we think about foreign policy. And it might just be the future of American global leadership.



http://www.alternet.org/audits/80623/

[youknowmenotdlc]

39. Nothing Obama says can even approach the level of poor judgement that Hillary showed in her IWR vote

She gave Bush carte blanche to wage war which sorta trumps Obama talking about theory.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

40. Nothing like Clinton's - I suppose....

n/t

[surfermaw]

41. Let's see Bush 1 CIA

His experience may ...remember I said may match that of Bush the 2nd idiot.

[depakid]

42. Reagan and Bush -nice

Obama sure has a way of inspiring confidence in traditional Democratic values, eh?

Once again, Obama leads me with one of two unpleasant conclusions:

1. He doesn't know or understand very much about foreign policy; or

2. He really does know- and he supports what Reagan and Bush did.