Senator Clinton just made Senator Obama look foolish. A Youtube questioner asked Obama whether he would meet with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela within his first year of office. Obama said of course he would. Asked the same question, Clinton said that while she would step up diplomacy, she refused to be used as propaganda for the leaders of these nations. It was a common sense, pragmatic and wise answer. When John Edwards followed up saying he agreed with Clinton, it looked like her smart answer had made him change his own answer.
This is another bad debate for Obama. His elevated style, so effective in set-piece speeches, makes him appear holier-than-thou in this setting.
As for the Youtube debate itself, it’s pretty goofy. But there have been a few good questions.
July 24, 2007 at 12:51 am |
I think Obama did great answering the question, that he will meet with them does not mean that they will control the discourse of the meeting. Reagan talk to Soviet Union even when they pointed their Nuclear weapons against us.
July 25, 2007 at 8:00 pm |
[...] 7 p.m. NECN NewsNight Appearance I will be on NECN NewsNight tonight with Jim Braude and Charley Blandy of Blue Mass Group. The subject with be the responses of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to a Youtube question on American diplomacy. [...]
July 27, 2007 at 4:01 pm |
[...] Barack Obama referred to Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy as “Bush-Cheney Lite.” No matter what I might think about the exchange during the YouTube debate on Monday, there’s no question that Obama’s willingness to meet with the despots of Iran, Syria, [...]