In this week’s Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, the candidates were asked just a very few questions about foreign policy, and those that were asked were about the Balkans and the Middle East, the most obvious world trouble spots at this very moment, or military preparedness, a major issue in the campaign. The rest of the questions related to domestic policy.
The powers and responsibilities of the President are significantly circumscribed in the domestic arena, with Congress, the Courts and the States having a major role, while the foreign policy powers of the President are, under the Constitution, largely unchecked. (My pet peeve in this area is education, which is generally considered to be a state and local issue, with very limited federal involvement. Why on earth are the candidates making this the cornerstone of their campaigns?)
In recent years there have been significant international tensions (or shooting wars) in the following areas: China/Taiwan, India/Pakastan, Korea, East Timor, Chechnya, East Africa, Central Africa, Southern Africa, Northern Ireland, Southern Mexican States, Cuba, Columbia, Peru. It is very likely that several of these areas will flare up in the next administration, along with other issues that may well arise, including international trade and economic issues such as potential South American or Asian economic crises, the valuation of the Euro and free trade with the Americas, Europe and the Pacific Rim.
Why have Jim Lehrer or Bernie Shaw (who seemed to have plagerized Lehrer’s question list – even to the extent of asking the question about what to do about Milosevic’s staying in power in Yugoslavia after he apparently had been deposed) not asked anything other than the most obvious and superficial questions about foriegn policy?
Because the American public is generally too dumb to understand the intracacies, and two minutes (or whatever) isn’t really enough time to do more than a soundbite on such a complex issue anyway.
OK, maybe it’s a little harsh to say the public is too dumb. But I would say that is not the key point on their mind. The public cares about Social Security and crime and welfare and things like that, so this is what the politicians need to worry about.
You sure you watched the same veep debates as I did? I tuned in about 9:30, and it seemed that it was all defense and foreign policy for the next half hour. I was thinking, “I’m enjoying the discussion, but boy howdy, this game’s being played on Cheney’s home field.”
BTW, did Cheney and Leiberman totally outshine Bush and Gore, or what?
I agree. I only watched a bit of it, but it seemed to me that Cheney and Lieberman were just two guys talking policy–there wasn’t that horrible posturing and speechifying that you heard on Tuesday from Bush and Gore. It was far more civil, and they both came off as genuinely likeable–which surprised me, cos I don’t really like either of them. Wasn’t as entertaining as the other debate, though…no one talking about “fuzzy calculators” or interrupting the moderator to get the last word.
RTF: Note that the OP specified that there wasn’t much foreign policy besides the Balkans and Middle East. I think that’s what almost all of those questions you’re talking about referred to (and, since they’re the hotspots now, it’s no surprise, really).
In watching (okay, half-watching) the VP debate, I found them both more comfortable than the Pres debate. But they were still posturing, just not as blatantly.
For example, when discussing Saddam Hussein, Lieberman took a swipe at Cheney by noting that both Liberman and Gore had crossed party lines to support the Gulf War, but they hadn’t finished the job (of course, Cheney was Sec. of Def. at the time).
I did think that both were quicker on their feet and wittier than either Pres. candidate (OK, that’s no shock when it comes to W.)
The exchange I liked was when Lieberman talked about Reagan’s famous question to Carter and asked the American people if they are better off now than they were 8 years ago. He then turned to Cheney and said that he had read in the papers that Cheney is MUCH better off now than he was 8 years ago (a reference to all the money he’s made since then). Cheney retorted that the government had NOTHING to do with that. Lieberman continued and said that his wife was probably thinking that she wishes Lieberman would go into the private sector. Cheney came back and said that he’s trying to help him get there!
No way Gore and W. would have had an exchange like that!
