Legal Commentary

McCain's Test

By TChris

Joe Biden's impulsive prediction that Barack Obama's presidency would quickly be "tested" by a foreign power gave John McCain an opening to incite fear about Obama's ability to respond to an international crisis. McCain handled this opportunity with the same skill he has displayed throughout the campaign: he blew it.

“We don’t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars,” McCain said Tuesday at a rally here. Then McCain veered off script to elaborate.

[more, my friends ...]

“Sen. Biden referred to how Jack Kennedy was tested in the Cuban Missile Crisis. My friends, I had a little personal experience in that,” McCain said. “I was on board the USS Enterprise. I sat in the cockpit of a flight deck on the USS Enterprise off of Cuba. I had a target. My friends, do you know how close we came to nuclear war? America will not have a president who needs to be tested. I’ve been tested my friends.”

McCain was tested by sitting in a cockpit? Kennedy didn't call McCain for advice while McCain was in his cockpit waiting to be told what to do. McCain could probably see Cuba from the flight deck of the USS Enterprise. By Sarah Palin's standards, that makes him an expert on Cuban affairs. But what does that have to do with testing a president in a crisis?

This is what happens when McCain goes off script. He reminds us that his military experience, however brave and laudable, was about taking orders. He wasn't making decisions about international policy during his military service. Obama should thank McCain for reminding voters that McCain hasn't been tested by crisis decision-making in the arena of foreign policy.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).