I saw this on the Guardian UK RSS feed. The headline was, “Clinton turns up the heat on Obama,” while the summary was, “Hillary rounds on Democratic rival over the politically-loaded issue of his time in Indonesia.”
It turns out that Hillary was commenting on a statement made by Barack when asked about his foreign policy experience. Barack said, “Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact I spent four years overseas when I was a child in south-east Asia.”
Hillary responds with: “Now voters will judge whether living in a foreign country at the age of 10 prepares one to face the big, complex international challenges the next president will face.”
I’m not sure that there is a critical period for developing foreign policy experience; if there is, I’m not sure it’d be between 10-14. However, those ages are crucial in the development of identity in young men, so on some level I do see where Barack is coming from. Indonesia is an extremely diverse country, and Barack would have to learn about other cultures and how to work with people from said culture. Given that our current President currently only works with two cultures–NeoCons and the Religious Right–even Barack’s experience would be a welcome change.
Technorati Tags: 2008, 2008 Election, journalism, Opinion, Politics
I’m not impressed with Hilary Clinton. I don’t have a particular reason for not liking her; just that I find her to be vague in her political policies and opaque in personality.
I mostly agree. What policies she has taken a stand on I agree, but, I don’t think the same family coming into the presidency within 8 years of each other is good for the country. While I am aware that it has happened in the past, I think we should start having new folk in office. That being said, Hillary is better than any Republican on the field.
She is doing the same thing her husband did in 1992 and we loved him for it. I was also 14 at the time and didn’t know any better.
I do not like the trend among women I know that says that I am a shitty person for not supporting her and for liking Kucinich. The fact of her sex, or gender, has nothing to do with it. I don’t like her stance or statements. I wouldn’t have liked Clinton’s either if I had been paying attention then. Kucinich is a principled candidate and I hope his odds improve.
The whole dynasty/monarchy issue is worrisome, too. If she wins, there will have been a Bush or Clinton in office since 1984. It is not hard to picture Jeb Bush running in 4 or 8 years, either.