Russia: McCain Plays Prez

14 August 2008 |permalink | email article

The assumed GOP nominee has put his foreign policy expertise squarely at risk as a president-in waiting over the conflict in Georgia. He’s sending top surrogates Graham and Lieberman to Tbilisi to comfort democratic Georgian President Saakashvili who has long had unrealistic assumptions about the degree of help from the U.S. and the West. 

Bush, sending troops and humanitarian aid while dispatching Rice to the Georgian capitol after seeing Sarkozy, has badly miscalculated and been outfoxed after assuming he could still deal with Putin at the Beijing Olympics. She warned Saakashvili a month ago not to get into a military conflict with Russia that Georgia could not win, a warning he repeatedly ignored.

The problem is the U.S. is so involved in Mideast affairs that it undermanaged its strategic relationship with the Georgia. Saakashvili’s incessant taunting of the Bear has backfired.

So McCain butts in, denounces Russia’s aggressive posture by claiming that: “In the 21st Century nations don’t invade other nations.”

It’s a foreign policy rhetorical blunder, the kind that has come to haunt McCain and has consequences in the fall campaign with Obama. I mean, as he seemed to imply, is the U.S. plunge into Iraq any less a 21st Century invasion than Russia’s calculated move into Georgia?

Notebook

Are new foreign policy concerns dimming the prospects of potential Obama Veep nominees Kaine, Sebelius and possibly Bayh while shifting to Biden? … Ex-Bush Secretary of State Powell won’t attend the Democratic convention but the odds favor his endorsing Obama, which would be huge. … McCain thinks he has a chance to take Pennsylvania’s 21 electoral votes. But RealClearPolitics has the spread for Obama at 6.8%, and ahead in the four most recent Keystone State polls.

Quotes of the Day

“We’re worst off than we were four years ago.” – A recent McCain campaign ad calling him “the original maverick,” certain to displease W. as the presumed nominee tries to shake off the ‘third Bush term’ charge.

“Great powers do not commit suicide for allies.” – Henry Kissinger on political realism, and with obvious implications for the U.S. role in the Russia-Georgia conflict.

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