Everywhere you look in the media today, everyone is talking about the comment made by Obama’s vice-president running mate Joe Biden. McCain has jumped on the statement and wants to use it to show that Obama is not a good choice for president. He and other would like the voters to think that Biden is unsure of Obama’s ability to deal with such issues. McCain goes even further to say that he will not be tested. He has already been tested.
Now Here is what he said, “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America,” Biden said. “Watch. We’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”[1]
It is obvious that he believes Obama will be tested. He also said that Obama is brilliant and compares him to John F. Kennedy. Now this seems to me that he believes that Obama is up to the test. He will ace the test, just as Kennedy masterfully handled the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
This is what the United States needs. We need a president of Kennedy’s caliber to handle the serious foreign issues that are partially a product of the current administrations failed foreign policies. That is putting it nicely.
Obama has already shown his good judgment in his opposition to the Iraq invasion. It is clear to him that involvement in Afghanistan requires the full attention of the United States efforts in order to keep terrorism from growing. After removing the Taliban from power the only way to keep the country from harboring terrorist in the future is to help the country rebuild and give its inhabitant what they need to live a fulfilling life. The diversion of troops and funds to Iraq, has in now way done anything to less the terrorist threat. McCain was for attacking Iraq.
McCain says that there is no need for him to be tested. He says, “They know I’ve been tested. I’ve been tested many times.”[2] Did he fill in as president for Kennedy or the Bushes while no one was looking. What kind of test is he talking about? Okay, he said he was on a ship during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What decisions did he have to make that on that ship[3], that are comparable to the burden the president had at the time? He was in a prison camp in North Vietnam. How does that compare to leading a country that has just been attacked by terrorists? What makes McCain think that he will not be tested.
Does he come across so tough. He made a very nervous impression at the debates on TV. Will be able to keep cool and make sound decisions at a time where it really counts? Does he strike fear into foreign leaders, which will keep them from “testing” him? Do his 72 years make him a stronger or weaker leader?
In the end, I think that McCain will fail the kind of test that Joe Biden predicted for the U.S. Thus, I believe that Biden has given us just one more reason to election Barack Obama.
[1]http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14834.html
[2]http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/22/mccain.blitzer/index.html?eref=rss_politics
[3]http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/22/mccain-tested-and-ready-for-a-crisis/
Popularity: 28% [?]
Robbin | 28 October 2008 at 12:13 am | Permalink
I think your site should be called something other than “world opinion”. Although I respect your stand for Obama, you unfortunately do not speak for the “world”. I personally do think that having 72 years of life under your belt, and several of those years in a political position, do give you quite a bit of experience. Not only in making crisis decisions, but in the everyday decisions. Having been in office for as long as he has he knows what works and what doesn’t, who to trust and who not to. He is being “open minded” enough to say that he will even select democrats to help create a team across the table to make important decisions for our country. We are “the people” not democrats or republicans. My concern with Obama is his lack of experience in politics and crisis decision making. Unless you have been a POW don’t underestimate the courage and choices that McCain had to make in his dark hour.
CW | 28 October 2008 at 2:40 am | Permalink
Being 72 years old does not automatically qualify you to make wise decisions. In fact there are many people 72 and old who make very bad decisions due to their age. The same goes for being a POW. Many POW are so messed up mentally, which is understandable due to what they have been through, that they are in no position make any decisions. What I am saying is that just to say hey he’s got “72 years of life under his belt” he will be a better president is pretty naive. I would rather look at his record and from what I can see he has not made good decisions. He backed the invasion of Iraq, bad decision. Or have I missed something. What, besides his age and experience as a POW makes you think he will make better decisions?