Redstate

By GOPaisano Posted in 2008 — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

So I just finished watching the Daily Show interview with John McCain. (Part 1 and Part 2 available here.) Mostly pretty good; as much as Stewart and his audience wants Obama to win, Stewart's residual appreciation for McCain still shines through.

One question though, kind of stuck in my craw. Stewart asked McCain about his statement that Hamas had endorsed Barack Obama for President--which, as the AP story admits, is absolutely correct with regards at least to Ahmed Yousef. He asked the Senator if he wanted to repudiate the statement, and McCain responded a bit oddly. To quote that same AP article:

"It's indicative of how some of our enemies view America," McCain said Wednesday on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." "And I guarantee you, they're not going to endorse me."

I understand what Senator McCain is getting at here. But I don't think this "I'll be their worst nightmare" talk gets at the heart of the problem. Stewart acted like the mere acknowledgment of Yousef's endorsement was simply furthering the cause of the "Obama is a secret Muslim~!?!" chain emails.

It is not about that. The problem is that as sincere as Senator Obama may be, he is a foolish neophyte on foreign policy. If we are going to win this argument, Senator McCain must attack his positions head-on, without regard to soundbites. Here's what I wish he had said:

McCain: Look, no one is suggesting that Barack Obama is going to be sympathetic to a terrorist group. He's a patriotic American--we all are--and I have a lot of respect for him. But there is a reason that a lead Hamas advisor said they'd rather see Obama as a President. He's willing to meet and negotiate with them with no preconditions. I am not.

(Presumably, Stewart would try to interrupt here.)

McCain: Now hold on, just let me finish--what you have to understand is that Hamas needs those negotiations because, my friends, without U.S. pressure, there is no Palestinian state. And no matter what you think of President Bush's policies, he's been a consistent supporter of such a state. Now, what we have to ask ourselves is do we want to use our position of strength to try to bring an end to their terrorist actions, or do we simply give Hamas a free ride and ignore the blood on their hands?

That's a very clear message, even if it's not as simple as "Hey, let's talk to our enemies and good things will happen". We can get that message out. We can contrast that message with Senator Obama's with success. But we cannot simply say "He is weak and we are strong", because Americans will not simply accept strength anymore.

Senator Obama is weak and wrong. On this issue, Senator McCain is strong and right. We cannot let that go.