April 8th, 2008:

From Boston.com: "Obama foreign policy claim stirs controversy" (Read Sigh-pher's response, below!)

Link|Comments (0) Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor April 8, 2008 10:21 AM

Barack Obama has long argued that he has shown better foreign policy judgment than his remaining presidential rivals, specifically in opposing the Iraq war.

But at a fund-raiser in San Francisco over the weekend, he reportedly made the case that he has more foreign policy experience as well -- a claim getting a lot of blowback from presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic contender Hillary Clinton.

According to an account posted online on The Huffington Post, Obama was answering a question about what he would look for in a running mate if he wins the nomination. "I would like somebody who knows about a bunch of stuff that I'm not as expert on," he replied. "I think a lot of people assume that might be some kind of military thing to make me look more commander-in-chief-like. Ironically, this is an area -- foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident that I know more and understand the world better than Senator Clinton or Senator McCain."

Clinton took exception when asked about the comment while making the rounds of the morning TV shows in advance of the long-awaited testimony today by General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the top US diplomat.

She laughed, actually, before responding on Fox News. "Well I’m somewhat shocked by that since I don’t see any evidence of it," she said. "This is kind of hard to square with his failure to ever have a single policy hearing on the only responsibility he was given, chairing the European and NATO subcommittee the foreign relations committee.

"I don’t know," she continued. "I’m speechless. Making an assertion like that belies the facts and the record."

Blair Latoff, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said in an earlier statement, “Perhaps in an effort to one-up his own ridiculous assertions about John McCain’s record, Barack Obama laughably claimed to have more foreign policy experience than Senator McCain. Even by Obama’s standards, this is a horrifyingly false claim without a shred of supporting evidence. Perhaps the junior Senator from Illinois should focus on explaining to voters what exactly his foreign policy experience is before comparing it to John McCain’s wealth of experience on the issue.”

McCain and Clinton, as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will get their chance to question Petraeus and Crocker -- and make their points as candidates -- this morning. Obama will get his turn this afternoon when the two testify before the Foreign Relations Committee.

Sighpher's response:

This is nothing newsworthy here... First of all there is the matter of the context of Barack Obama's remark: he was talking about the qualities he would seek in a VP that would complement his own. He was also speaking in the context of the endless claims by Clinton and her camp regarding her allegedly superior foreign policy experience vs. his own. Obama simply said foreign policy was an area where he felt he knew more about and "understood" better than Clinton and McCain. Obama's remark does not refer to his resume or the specifics of his engagement in foreign policy, but the larger, and in the view of many, more important question of "understanding"...and this encompasses issues like sensitivity and judgment. Those who support Obama generally do so precisely because they believe his understanding of the issues facing the United States and the world right now is vastly more nuanced and profound than that of his competitors. This is not something you can demonstrate with "evidence," because it relates more to Obama’s world view than any ticking off of accomplishments. Some may find the concept of “a world view” somewhat nebulous; others, like most Obama supporters, believe it is a crucial credential for a presidential candidate, especially in these times where America's role in the world needs to be examined and perhaps re-aligned, given the state of current world affairs.