(Bob Strong/Reuters)
One problem with being a grown-up and expecting the children to follow suit is that they are still children. This story from
Politico highlights the dilemma for the red meat crowd, who want a muscular foreign policy (except when a Democrat does it).
It’s the 2012 Republican field’s first real moment in the foreign policy spotlight — the dilemma over how to respond to the apparent success of President Barack Obama’s intervention in Libya.
So far, the strategy for nearly all the candidates is: don’t.
Huntsman thought the intervention was a mistake. Perry thought it was a great thing that happened spontaneously, without the intervention of mankind. Romney is still doing polling to see what he thinks.
It’s questionable whether Republicans will be able to hold Libya at arm’s length for long. The United States is now involved in deciding the fate of the North African nation, and it’s all but inevitable that would-be commanders-in-chief will have to say whether or not they think that’s a good thing.
As for reality, it's a
"nuanced victory" for Obama, who is not much of a chest beater. He didn't rip Ghadaffi's heart out and savor it for breakfast like Bush would have, and there's no "Mission Accomplished," as everyone knows the hard work is just starting.
Still, as National Journal put it:
For Barack Obama, “leading from behind” has never looked so … decisive.
The fact is that for American Presidents, you lose points for screwing up overseas but rarely win them for doing something right. This election will be domestically focused, but what the Libyan events of this week do is take another talking point away from the GOP and, with the Osama death, gives Obama strength in an area of traditional Democratic weakness to go along with the domestic weakness in an area of Democratic strength. Who would have guessed that after the 2008 election?
In any case, the GOP candidates will have to scramble to appear relevant without ticking someone off in their angry mob primary universe. Good luck, fellas. Try to act like grown-ups, okay? And try to give the non-GOP primary voter a reason to think you're capable of sitting in the Oval Office and making reasonable but decisive decisions.
Hmmm....reasonable... Perry... Bachmann... decisive decision-making and Romney... those are tough images to conjure up.