K-Lo

I never thought I would quote from a Kathryn Jean Lopez post (the woman has a crush on Romney?!?!), but she a written a post crowing over Democratic responses to the current positive news coming out about the surge that I think unwittingly encapsulates one of the reasons I am far more of a fan of Obama than Clinton (even before she started her current execrable plan to introduce race into the campaign and try to use it against Obama):

SEN. CLINTON: “The point of the surge was to quickly move the Iraqi government and Iraqi people. That is only now beginning to happen, and I believe in large measure because the Iraqi government, they watch us, they listen to us. I know very well that they follow everything that I say. And my commitment to begin withdrawing our troops in January of 2009 is a big factor, as it is with Senator Obama, Senator Edwards, those of us on the Democratic side. It is a big factor in pushing the Iraqi government to finally do what they should have been doing all along.”

(Meet the Press, NBC, January 13, 2008)



SEN. OBAMA: “I welcome the genuine reductions of violence that have taken place, although I would point out that much of that violence has been reduced because there was an agreement with tribes in Anbar province — Sunni tribes — who started to see, after the Democrats were elected in 2006, you know what, the Americans may be leaving soon, and we are going to be left very vulnerable to the Shi'as.”

(Democratic presidential debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., January 5, 2008))

People consistently complain that Obama's speeches are empty flights of rhetoric, but I find him far more likely to show a balanced and deep understanding of issues. In these two quotes Clinton is laying out a precise policy position and Obama is not but Obama's response shows an interest in the details of the situation and an awareness of policy implications that Clinton doesn't even mention in her haste to put forward a plan that sounds good and that gives her as much credit as humanly possible. All too often this is exactly how I feel about the difference between the two of them. While Obama may not give absolute policy prescriptions in the same way Clinton does, he consistently displays an understanding of policy and how particular policies fit into his governing philosophy or their own larger context. This is exactly the kind of awareness and approach I think a president needs and it has been sadly lacking in recent administrations.