Obama held a foreign policy summit today with his Senior Working Group on National Security to discuss the immense challenges faced by the United States in the wake of the George Bush's disastrous foreign policies (those would be the policies that McCain wants to continue). I'm not sure what was said in the meeting but whatever it was seems to have Obama fired up and feeling more confident than ever that foreign policy is going to a strength in the general election. The speech he gave after his meeting revealed that he's not going to shy away from foreign policy discussions with McCain. In fact the underlying sentiment of his speech seemed to be telling McCain to "bring it." Watch.
My thoughts after the jump.
I love it. Barack is not playing around. He will not allow his positions to be distorted and manipulated. He even brought up 9/11, and did so without using the fear card. He correctly pointed out Bush's failure in convicting any of the terrorists we're holding at Guantanamo and our failure to capture Bin Laden who's now basically sending out a weekly terrorist podcast (you can suscribe to it at the Itunes store).
Obama reaffirmed his believe in and respect for the constitution which is a welcome change from the Bush era that McCain wants to continue. I'm not sure how McCain counters that argument without sounding like he thinks the constitution is a relic of the pre 9/11 era.
Obama reiterated that he'd take a tough approach on fighting terrorist and refused to be pigeon-holed into the law-enforcement only box. I really think foreign policy is going to be a strength for Obama. His clear, concise, and strong language on this issue is going to provide a stark contrast with McCain and his tired 2004 era sound bites and attacks. Obama is going to destroy him in the debates. McCain is in trouble folks.
Obama also met with a group of nearly 40 retired Admirals and Generals to discuss the state of our armed forces, and the challenges facing our military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world. Obama will definately be all ears at these meetings and will take the counsel of these folks. We can be sure that we will see the information he learns incorporated into future attacks on McCain. A president who listens AND learns, imagine that.
Senator Obama’s Senior Working Group on National Security includes:
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Senator David Boren, former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Secretary of State Warren Christopher
Greg Craig, former director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning
Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
Representative Lee Hamilton, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder
Dr. Tony Lake, former National Security Advisor
Senator Sam Nunn, former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Secretary of Defense William Perry
Dr. Susan Rice, former Assistant Secretary of State
Representative Tim Roemer, 9/11 Commissioner
Jim Steinberg, former Deputy National Security Advisor
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And just because, once again here's Gen. Wesley Clark pointing out that McCain's foreign policy experience really isn't all that extensive.