Monday, October 20, 2008

The Global Test


You might remember that John Kerry came in for more than a little grief in the last election cycle when he made reference to a "global test." Well, it sounds like Joe (I'm from Scranton) Biden is concerned about that, too, but in a far different way than Kerry meant:




"Mark my words," the Democratic vice presidential nominee warned at the second of his two Seattle fundraisers Sunday. "It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We're about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here if you don't remember anything else I said. Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy."

"I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate," Biden said to Emerald City supporters, mentioning the Middle East and Russia as possibilities. "And he's gonna need help. And the kind of help he's gonna need is, he's gonna need you - not financially to help him - we're gonna need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it's not gonna be apparent initially, it's not gonna be apparent that we're right."

Well, if Biden is concerned about that, there's an obvious solution -- elect John McCain instead. Somehow I don't think that's what Biden is suggesting.


What's also interesting is that Biden suspects that the halo will come off The One pretty quickly. How else would one parse the meaning of "it's not gonna be apparent that we're right." Well, why would that be?


Biden suggests 4 or 5 possible scenarios. I'm going to suggest one. Israel understands something that I'm not sure Obama really does -- Iran represents an existential threat to its existence. Israel will not let the the Iranians develop their nuclear program to the point that a bomb could land in Tel Aviv. Obama can claim that he is the best friend Israel could want, but the Israelis will be rightly skeptical. If Obama wins, the Israelis will not depend on Obama. They will attack Iran. What will Obama do?


We've got 2 weeks before Election Day. The election, as a practical matter, is going to be a referendum on Obama. Is he ready to handle the entirety of the Presidency? Joe Biden, bless his heart, has raised an issue that voters should consider.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some test questions for voters:

What are the consequences of Obama failing his test?

How many people will be killed or have their lives ruined just so Obama can show he has a steel spine?

What happens if his spine turns out to be more pot metal than steel?

How much will the credibility of the U.S. be damaged as Obama bumbles and attempts to correct course?

How many do overs does he get?

Obama has not demonstrated the ability to get anything tangible or constructive done at an execute position. He can complain about how bad things are with the best of them and incite others to complain and demand change, but when it comes to actually doing something about and taking responsibility for fixing a problem his meager track record rates a FAIL.

In these serious and dangerous times failure is not an option. An Obama presidency should also not be one. Too much is at stake.