Rosner at Ha’aretz notes that  the Democratic prez candidates sound a lot like…neocons.

But the even more amazing thing about the Pakistan chapter of the debate was the extent to which the Democratic candidates sounded almost like – well – neocons.Consider their praise for democracy and their insistence that the Bush administration should be pushing Pakistan’s President to allow elections in Pakistan to move forward. Consider the talk about how democracy in countries like Pakistan contributes to America’s national security (Clinton). Consider their practical dismissal of the danger attached to a destabilized Pakistan (Dodd was the exception, saying that “When you take the oath of office (for the presidency) January 20th, you promise to do two things: protect and defend the United States and protect yourselves from enemies foreign and domestic.”)

Interesting that the Administration has had to adopt – at least operationally – a more realpolitik-y approach on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, promoting stability and strong traditional institutions (like the sheikhs and tribes) over surface indications of democracy, for at least the time being, while the left is moving into the space the Administration has for the moment vacated.

Consider all their statements and you?ll reach one of two conclusions:
Either everything is politics, and when Bush does A (avoids pushing the Pakistani President) the Democrats must say B no matter what; or, as much as the Democrats want to deny it, the Bush years did influence the way they think about the world.

I’ll take (C):  All of the above, but with a healthy dollop of Bush Derangement slathered on top.

This entry was posted by by Mitch Berg on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 5:40 am and is filed under Campaign '08, Democrat Party, War On Terror. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.