Oh, do you recall the immense wailing and gnashing of teeth from Democrats last weekend when Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a comment about Barack Obama and the Democrats on Australian TV?
“If I were running al Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats,” Howard said, speaking on “Sunday,” a TV show on Australia’s Nine Network.
News media across the world followed the spat. Democrats through a fit that Howard would dare comment on US politics: Typical is US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon on CNN’s Late Edition: “The most charitable thing you can say about Mr Howard’s comment is bizarre. You know, we’ll make our own judgements in this country with respect to elections and Barack Obama is a terrific public servant.”
Well, how come this story has not been picked up by a single major American news outlet yet:
Peter Hain, [British Member of Parliament and Blair's] the Northern Ireland Secretary, yesterday issued a rare endorsement by a UK minister of a White House candidate, praising Hillary Clinton and stating that it would “be fantastic to have a woman presidentâ€. … [H]e took time out to express his support for Democrats. Before meeting Senator Clinton for the fourth time as a minister, he said: “When the Democrats won last November [in the mid-term congressional elections] of course every Labour member, like me, cheered because they’re our sister party.â€
I’m still waiting anxiously for Clinton Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe’s fervent protestations that these foreigners ought to keep their noses out of American politics.
This all reminds me quite amusingly of when, during the 2004 presidential campaign, John Kerry said: “I’ve met with foreign leaders who can’t go out and say this publicly. But, boy, they look at you and say: ‘You’ve got to win this. You’ve got to beat this guy. We need a new policy.’ Things like that.” Don’t recall Ron Wyden then saying “we’ll make our own judgements in this country with respect to elections.”
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Uh, do you think maybe democrats were upset in the first case because Howard tried to make a link between Osama and Obama? Maybe that it wasn’t about foreigners commenting on US politics as much as it was the fact that it was a low-life and cowardly thing to say?
Of course you know that, though. You have no honest arguments so you just have to make stuff up. Kudos!
Democrats just can’t handle their golden boy having the least bit of tarnish on him. Even if his policy weakness will make the nation less safe.
[...] Daniel Suhr stumbles upon a story that will probably garner little attention. A member of Tony Blair’s cabinet fawned all over Sen. Hillary Clinton: Mr Hain was visiting Washington to ask for President George W Bush’s administration help in persuading Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party leader, to sit in government with Sinn Fein next month. [...]
I have no objection to foreigners commenting on our electoral process and candidates. That said, I don’t take kindly to Howard’s breed of personal attacks. I have the same feeling of disgust whenever I hear Bush compared to Hitler…it’s revolting. There is no comparison.
(Sean–what foreign policy experience did Bush have coming into office, exactly? Not that he’s a great case for inexperienced leaders…)