A Taste Of McCain vs. Obama: Demonstrates That Obama Will Need Update Some Of His Arguments

Throughout the Democratic primary, Sen. Barack Obama and others advocating on his behalf have frequently cited his experience living abroad as a child as a boost to his foreign policy credentials.

Early in the campaign in 2007, Obama argued that his experience abroad was a strength, saying:

“If I go to Jakarta and address the largest Muslim country on earth, I can say, ‘Apa kabar,’ — you know, ‘How are you doing?’ — and they can recognize that I understand their common humanity,” Obama said. “That is a strength, and it allows me to say things to them that other presidents might not be able to say. And that’s part of what’s promising, I think, about this presidency.”

Responding to an argument made by Sen. Clinton about his foreign policy credentials last Novemeber, Obama said:

“Probably the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact that I spent four years living overseas when I was a child in southeast Asia.”

Now, it’s worth noting that this is certainly not the only argument that Sen. Obama uses to support his foreign policy experience. But, the discussion of his experience abroad is often used and for the purposes of this post is all that matters since this post is about Obama vs. McCain. My point being a simple one: a revision in his discussion of his foreign policy credentials will definitely need to take place between now and the general election, should he become the nominee. Imagine for a moment Sen. Obama making a similar argument about his experience abroad against Sen. McCain. A look back to McCain’s response to some of his challengers when he first ran for the House of Representatives is enlightening (h/t campaign spot):

McCain faced two experienced state legislators in the Republican nomination process, and as a newcomer to the state was hit with repeated charges of being a carpetbagger. Finally at a candidates forum he gave a famous refutation to a voter making the charge:

“Listen, pal. I spent 22 years in the Navy. My father was in the Navy. My grandfather was in the Navy. We in the military service tend to move a lot. We have to live in all parts of the country, all parts of the world. I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the First District of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.”

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not criticizing Obama. To steal an oft used line from JW, we’ll just need to see “Obama 2.0.” He is going to have to restructure many of his current arguments in order to avoid giving McCain an opening for a great comeback.

That’s all.

[Photo Credit: Obamarama]