Liberty Alone

Despite some serious misgivings about Obama’s economics and some of his domestic policy, I think he’s rapidly becoming my preferred candidate.
This is largely to do with his foreign policy. McCain and Clinton are both militaristic in outlook. They are concerned with perception of strength and the use of force.
Obama on the other hand appears more willing to negotiate and to talk:

“Here’s the truth: the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons and Iran doesn’t have a single one. But when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust, Kennedy talked to Khrushchev and he got those missiles out of Cuba. Why shouldn’t we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies? That’s what strong countries do, that’s what strong presidents do, that’s what I’ll do when I’m president of the United States of America.

“So, you know, for all their tough talk, one of the things you have to ask yourself is what are George Bush and John McCain afraid of? Demanding that a country meets all your conditions before you meet with them, that’s not a strategy; it’s just naïve, wishful thinking. I’m not afraid that we’ll lose some propaganda fight with a dictator. It’s time for America to win those battles, because we’ve watched George Bush lose them year after year after year. It’s time to restore our security and our standing in the world.

“And you can vote for John McCain and nothing will change.”

One of the biggest problems the US has is foreign perception. Already many outside the US view Obama as being the best candidate for foreign relations, this sort of rhetoric will enhance that view and will be a great asset even if he doesn’t fully follow through on it.

(HatTip: The Art of the Possible)

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