Acidus wrote:
] ] Kerry is nice, but he's no Clinton with
] ] foreign policy, and right now is one of the most crucial
] times
] ] in recent history for foreign policy leadership.
]
] Sorry Tina, I call Bullshit. Please list some of Clinton
] awesome foreign policy moves that you don't think Kerry could
] do.

Its not that I don't think he can do what needs to be done, but Clinton was completely brilliant and dedicated to foreign policy.
He had a reputation abroad for being a great facilitator of the peace process in places like the Middle East, Bosnia, and Northern Ireland, but most of all he was respected for taking trips to 6 continents and showing that America cared about what was going on in the rest of the world. Even his failures, such as in the Middle East, left the US ahead rather than behind in public opinion.

I don't think these sort of goals are out of reach for Kerry but he is going to start at a marked disadvantage. If he wins, his first priority needs to be showing the world that we are doing a complete turn-around of foreign policy- that we will follow international laws and treaties, that we will respect the UN, and that we won't be arbitrarily invading any other countries. Even if he can get this message across, he will only be getting us back to square one.

Of course, there's no way he could be as unqualified as Bush, but I still wish that we were hearing more about his plans to improve international relations with allies and and enemies alike. All I'm hearing about foreign countries is this chant: Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam!

I guess my point is, I am hopeful about the guy, but I want to hear some specifics, and about countries other than Iraq and Vietnam.
(If anyone has some articles on this, please forward to me.)
-Tina

RE: DNC analysis