It hasn't gotten much, or any, media attention, but there have been some interesting discussions on historians' lists about the comparison of JFK in 1960 running to the right of Nixon on the Vietnam issue and, as the theory goes, Obama running to the right of McCain on Afghanistan and al Qaeda. Obama does sound like a hawk, and of course people seem driven to compare him to Kennedy, from whom he differed in most respects (which is a good thing), including being the source of his own inspiring prose.
I don't personally buy the idea that Obama is a hawk like JFK. I see the emphasis on Afghanistan, and the surprisingly explicit calls on Obama's part to kill Osama bin Laden, as a way to inoculate the Dems against any attack that they are soft on terrorism and thereby simply remove the issue from the race. This has happened to some extent. Obama can call for the end of Iraq only because he is the first in line to say we should escalate in Afghanistan. Time will tell if this is the right choice. It is interesting to recall (nodding back to Bob Dole) that Democratic presidents have been war mongers in the twentieth century. I personally expect Obama to use the military overseas at least as much as Clinton in addition to expanding the commitment in Afghanistan. But supping with the devil has its costs, and protecting the right flank in order to tack left domestically has a tragic history. See file under: "Vietnam, Johnson's escalation of."
I don't personally buy the idea that Obama is a hawk like JFK. I see the emphasis on Afghanistan, and the surprisingly explicit calls on Obama's part to kill Osama bin Laden, as a way to inoculate the Dems against any attack that they are soft on terrorism and thereby simply remove the issue from the race. This has happened to some extent. Obama can call for the end of Iraq only because he is the first in line to say we should escalate in Afghanistan. Time will tell if this is the right choice. It is interesting to recall (nodding back to Bob Dole) that Democratic presidents have been war mongers in the twentieth century. I personally expect Obama to use the military overseas at least as much as Clinton in addition to expanding the commitment in Afghanistan. But supping with the devil has its costs, and protecting the right flank in order to tack left domestically has a tragic history. See file under: "Vietnam, Johnson's escalation of."
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