Striking back

Obama and a united Democratic Party hammer Bush and McCain on foreign policy.

I have nothing original to say about the substance (such as it is) of the Bush-McCain attack on Obama as an “appeaser.” But the process is worth attending to. For once it was the Democrats who spoke with one voice, and (as far as I can tell) mostly managed to make the story “Bush makes vicious, dumb, attack; McCain agrees” rather than “Obama called soft on terrorism.”

Here’s Obama’s speech today, the one the McCain forces are calling “Barack Obama’s hysterical diatribe.” Judge for yourself. To my eye, it’s calm, reasoned, and devastating. At long last, we have a Democratic candidate who knows how to counter-punch.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com