Posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 by Michael Moran
DENVER — From the CFR/Foreign Affairs booth here* at the Democratic National Convention, sandwiched between the workspaces of TIME, the Christian Science Monitor and the huge space shared by the Washington Post and Slate, foreign policy issues appear not to rank very highly so far on the radar of the working press. Day One’s focus on “The Family,” where Michelle Obama and Nancy Pelosi took center stage, barely touched on international issues. Democrats divided their convention into themes, and “National Security” doesn’t get its spot in the sun until Wednesday. Still, with American troops embroiled in two major conflicts, the global economy flagging due to high energy prices and the damage done by America’s credit markets, several foreign journalists have remarked to me that they are shocked that global issues have not been more prominently on display. “We thought Iraq would be front-and-center in all discussions here,” says Max Deveson of the BBC. “So far, it’s about the show, not the substance.” Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE), the Senate Foreign Relations committee chairman whose selection as Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) running mate led to a flurry of foreign policy analysis over the weekend, will speak Wednesday. A question on many minds here: Does the “Gelb-Biden” plan, the proposal for a more federalized Iraqi government structure advocated by the senator and CFR President Emeritus Leslie H. Gelb since 2006, now become part of the Obama platform? Biden’s foreign policy positions are well-known otherwise and tracked in detail by CFR.org. It’s hardly controversial to note at this point that political conventions in modern times really are more style than substance, and so carefully channeling the “message” of each party into pre-planned theme days makes some sense. Still, foreign policy is not totally absent. John Irbittsen of the Toronto’s Globe and Mail, one of the sharper foreign observers of U.S. politics, writes that among Obama’s tasks here is putting forth a detailed economic program, perhaps one which puts Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on the spot for his advocacy of free trade, and capitalizes on public unease over everything from the Iraq war to high energy prices.
*CFR.org Executive Editor Michael Moran will blog from the DNC in Denver through this week.
Posted in Economy, Energy Policy, General Election, Iraq, Russia, Uncategorized | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Michelle Obama, the wife of the presumptive Democratic nominee, were featured speakers (WashPost) on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, where the party will seek to rally around a common foreign policy vision.
ECONOMY: The Wall Street Journal looks at possible effects of economic instability on Sen. Barack Obama’s policy plans. In particular, it examines the pushback he would face from the business community on expected climate change plans.
IMMIGRATION: The Dallas Morning News reports that some immigration rights activists are content with the presidential candidates’ lack of attention to the issue on the campaign trail.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Immigration, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told Politico he would be “glad” to meet with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whom he has sharply criticized on the campaign trail, but only under the proper framework.
The New York Times Magazine examines Obama’s economic perspective.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Morning Update, Russia | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, August 7th, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called for an “economic surge” (MSNBC) on Wednesday. “Our surge has succeeded in Iraq militarily. Now we need an economic surge to keep jobs here at home and create new ones,” he said. He also said the United States needs to “open new markets” to its products.
ENERGY CHOICES: Policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin defended McCain’s “all of the above” energy policy plan (Chicago Sun-Times) in a memo on Wednesday, saying McCain “does support aggressive development of alternative and renewable energy sources. He will support the development of alcohol-based fuels, establish a permanent research and development tax credit to support energy innovation, and will encourage an even-handed system of tax credits for renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and biomass.”
CHINA: NPR’s Mike Shuster says U.S. policy toward China has not figured prominently in the presidential campaign so far.
Posted in China, Economy, Energy Policy, General Election, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) released his plan to “confront 21st-century threats” on Wednesday. The plan includes measures to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism and strengthen U.S. bio-security and cyber security.
A new Pew poll measures perceptions of the presidential candidates abroad.
A New York Times/CBS poll shows voters far more concerned about the economy than about the war in Iraq.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Homeland Security, Iraq, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 by campaign2008
“[P]rotectionism not only puts a hidden tax on almost everything you buy, but it
undermines American competitiveness and costs jobs. Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside the U.S. Our future prosperity depends on opening more of these markets, not closing them.”
–Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in a speech Monday on his economic plan. For more on McCain’s trade stance, see this Issue Tracker.
“We do the cause of free-trade – a cause I believe in – no good when we pass trade
agreements that hand out favors to special interests and do little to help workers who have to watch their factories close down. There is nothing protectionist about demanding that trade spreads the benefits of globalization as broadly as possible.”
–Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), in a speech Monday on his agenda for the middle class. For more on Obama’s trade stance, see this Issue Tracker.
Posted in Economy, General Election, Quote of the Day, Trade | 0 Comments »
Posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 by campaign2008
In Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) economic speech on Monday, he said a more globalized economy has forced Americans to compete for jobs with people in “Bangalore and Beijing.”
The Obama campaign named Jason Furman its new economic policy director on Monday. Furman, a senior fellow for economics at the Brookings Institution, was a staff economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Clinton administration.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Monday again called for a gas tax holiday (CNN).
The National Council of La Raza, a prominent Latino civil rights organization, announced Monday that both Obama and McCain will speak before its convention in July. Mark Lopez, associate director of the Pew Hispanic Center, discusses Obama’s struggle to win the Latino vote (NPR).
Posted in Economy, Energy Policy, General Election, Morning Update | 0 Comments »
