Vacationing While Georgia Burns?
It seems the McCain campaign has decided to take advantage of the violent conflict in Georgia to score political points against Barack Obama by criticizing him for going on vacation while McCain “has twice spoken with the President of Georgia, and is working to prevent a close American ally from collapsing under the weight of a Russian invasion.”
But, look, nothing McCain is doing is actually helping Georgia. Various diplomats from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and elsewhere are trying to negotiate an end to the crisis. Obama is trying to relax before the hard months of campaigning ahead. And McCain is . . . engaged in political posturing and a lot of empty tough guy rhetoric that’s better suited to a Bill Kristol column than to the White House. A lot of the rhetoric about this situation has, in my view, been over the top but I think it’s clear that America has a real-but-limited interest in maintaining a Georgia that isn’t entirely under Moscow’s thumb. But what’s needed are practical steps in that direction, not empty sloganeering and political stunts.
40 Responses to “Vacationing While Georgia Burns?”
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August 11th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Seems awful presumptuous of McCain to be assuming the role of Georgia’s savior, doesn’t it?
August 11th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
DTM:
Not to mention there is nothing McCain can do. And what is George going to do? Send troops? Is McCain going to hop in a fighter jet and go help the Georgians?
August 11th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
First: Great to see you here!
Second: It’s an easy statement to push-back since Obama spoke to Georgia’s president and the State Dept.and put out a statement. There’s not much more to do but see how this shakes out. Meanwhile, the McCain folks aren’t helping with the NATO talk on any level and pissing off the Russians isn’t that great IMO.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
It remains unclear exactly what ongoing Senate-specific activities for which Obama is playing hookie would solve the Russia-Georgia mini-war. As Matt says, Obama’s vacation is really just a break from the exhausting campaign. And how dare he forego spending all this time marinating in the adulation of fans and supporters! What kind of a celebrity is he?
And furthermore, what’s Obama really supposed to do? If he truncates his vacation and immediately books a flight to meet with the Georgian Prez to fix all their problems then he would be seriously stepping on the White House toes… we all know how important it is to not be presumptuous.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Also, McCain’s big speech on Georgia apparently plagiarized from a Wikipedia article on the country, so it’s not like McCain’s got a real State Department-like operation going over there.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Two quick points.
Aren’t there phone in Hawaii?
And is the, you know, actual president on a mini vacation at the Olympics, and didn’t he get rebuffed by Putin.
So who’s the more irresponsible part — Obama or Bush?
August 11th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
McCain (probably correctly) thinks that military conflict anywhere in the news helps him and hurts Obama since he assumes (possibly correctly) that most voters think he’s more militarily capable than Obama. Of course he’s going to play it for all it’s worth as he absolutely should. It’s theater, not real foreign policy, but mostly the media isn’t going to mention that fact and (mostly) voters won’t figure that out on their own.
“Obama spoke to Georgia’s president and the State Dept. and put out a statement.”
Ooooh, a statement! That’ll play in those big purple states he needs to win (somehow)!
August 11th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Interesting strategy by McCain. Seems like he is fighting two opponents on Georgia: Obama . . . and Bush. When will he start criticizing Bush and his administration’s fecklessness and so failing our loyal Georgian ally?
I can’t wait to see this food fight develop.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
There is only 1 president at a time. Both candidates can issue statements but it really does not matter what they think if you want to get technical. I just heard a news anchor ask if Obama should come off vacation because of the conflict. And do what I would counter??
August 11th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
McCain sounds alwfully presumptuous for a candidate. I don’t recall, but when did he suddenly get elected President? Seems to me he should but out of negotiations, and leave that to the President we now have and the state dept.
I’m not begrudging him having an opinion, or trying to better understand the situation. But he is in no position to negotiate on behalf of the United States as he’s just a candidate.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
But, look, nothing McCain is doing is actually helping Georgia.
Doesn’t matter, at least with respect to winning in November. What matters is perceptions and the MSM narrative. Yes, Hawaii is one of the fifty states, and yes, it has a modern communications network, but to lots of Americans it’s an exotic vacation destination — not a place serious leaders make serious decisions about world events.
The guys who successfully ran Obama’s primary campaign are proving much less adept at a general election.
Nice new blog, Matt — congrats. Can we get a “preview” function at some point?
August 11th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
And wouldn’t it be presumptuous to insert himself in the situation ?
August 11th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
For an attempt by Obama to intervene to help him in an election, it assumes that there is a sizable contingent of voters who are paying close attention to the conflict who nonetheless don’t understand that the kind of diplomatic effort available to a Senator/presidential candidate is unlikely to achieve any results and may run counter to the efforts of the people who are tasked with managing this sort of crisis, such as the State Department. So it’s assuming voters who are high-information on the one hand and low-information on the other.
That’s not to say McCain can’t try to frame a narrative around Obama fiddling while Georgia burns or that the media won’t play ball. Unless Obama’s got a secret plan for resolving this situation tomorrow, cutting short his vacation will just be labeled posturing. It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to make all that much difference in the long run, from an election standpoint.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Georgia Burns? Nice to see that Matt is not too young to remember that Obama is not the first celebrity with a God-complex.
good night, Gracie…
August 11th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Why doesn’t McCain crash his fighter into Georgia and become a prisoner? This would really enhance his electibility.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
It’s not John McCain the senator saying this, nor is it John McCain the candidate.
This statement is coming from John McCain the guy who’s managed by somebody who’s directly employed by Georgia. I can’t believe we’re taking anything that he says seriously.
August 11th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Between hawkish efforts to reinstigate the Cold War and the recent development of cloaking technologies, I’m really looking forward to the awesome dystopic cyberpunk future that’s just around the corner!
August 11th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
It was reported that McCain is currently giving the press almost no time, and much of what he is giving is in the form of scripted speeches, with little time for Q&A. It’s pretty obvious that his campaign people are scared spitless that he’s going to drop yet another major gaffe.
I’d love to see what he’d say about Georgia if he wasn’t being reigned in by his campaign. Maybe he’d blurt out that we should go head to head with the Russians in Georgia (since 2 active and flailing wars just ain’t enough!).
John McCain. No foreign policy issue he can’t blast his way out of … with other people’s lives.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Seem to me that when McCain said he was speaking to the head of Georgia, he meant Sonny Perdue.
Also, I think it is fair to assume that if Obama had indicated that he had spoken several times to the President of Georgia, the McCain campaign would have been all over the airwaves accusing hm of being presumptuous and reaching above his station. They are trying to corner the market pn presumptuosness — and doing a fine job of it at that.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Matt: “But, look, nothing McCain is doing is actually helping Georgia.”
So what? He’s making political points against Obama - that’s all that matters to him.
“I think it’s clear that America has a real-but-limited interest in maintaining a Georgia that isn’t entirely under Moscow’s thumb.”
Like what interest would that be? How about supporting Israel’s grab for oil?
From DebkaFile (a known Israeli front):
August 11th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
I seem to recall McCain’s answer a couple years back when Iraq was even worse than it is today. I paraphrase; I would sit down with the Shia’s and the Sunni’s and say to them “Cut the bullshit”. I bet he used that line to the Russians and Georgians. It worked so well for him before.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:55 am
If Obama had any real sense of responsibility, he would be plucking guitar while New Orleans drowns.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:20 am
That is funny. I can just see McCain calling the Georgian President while he is running for cover. McCain keeps calling back, wanting to talk, probably all on camera to try to look like he’s doing something, anything. He’ll probably get the poor guy killed cuz his phone won’t stop ringing while he is being bombed. Old man McCain is a clown…a dangerous clown. The kind of clown that every child should be terrified of.
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