Quote:
Originally Posted by partofme
That sounds like a nice critique of a good speaker and is motivational but doesn't tell me too much about what he would do once in office.
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True, and that's why I noted, "I am also mindful that a good rhetorician can deceive, and perhaps I’m putting far too much hope in Obama."
The specifics of what he may do will probably not rest only on him. First, the new President, whoever is elected, will inherit the state of affairs that were the legacy of the present administration. Iraq, for example, is a dilemma because there is no simple solution. It would not be on what to do about Iraq that I would expect a difference from Obama if he won office, but rather on issues that will come to the fore in the future. What’s important here, however, is that Obama had declared his opposition to the invasion of Iraq. So, we can surmise that, had he been in office, he would likely not have taken the decision to invade Iraq. In my view, this scores points for him in terms of confidence in the potential of his decision making capacity when it comes to future foreign policy decisions he will face. His intelligence is another factor in reducing the probability of him making foolish decisions.
Any President also has to engage with his/her aides, his/her party, Congress, lobby groups, and with other local and global forces that will impact his decisions. I think Obama will be less prone to being influenced by only one faction, such as President Bush came under the spell of the neo-cons.
Tethys