Last night, Obama threw down the gauntlet and then kicked a little sand on McCain to make sure he got the point: The race is on.
Barack Obama provided the answer last night to the central question of his candidacy. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States because Barack Obama says so.
This is a tactic recognized by every boy who ever got in the middle of a school yard showdown. Argument by assertion. How do we know that Barack can pay for the billions of new spending? Because he says he will. How do we know that the economy is terrible even though it’s about the same as under Clinton? Because he says so. Facts really don’t matter.
No where was this more apparent than his attacks on John McCain on foreign policy. How is Obama going to get Russian to leave Georgia alone? Why he is just going to use “tough diplomacy.” How is he going to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons? He is just going to use “tough diplomacy.” “Tough diplomacy” is going to be a wonder to behold. By the use of “tough diplomacy” Barack is going to talk tough leaders in unfriendly countries to do our bidding without the use of any sort of unpopular force and when he is done they are going to thank him for it and look upon the United States with reverence and respect. We know this will work because Barack Obama says it will.
Just for clarification, don’t confuse “tough diplomacy” with “cowboy diplomacy.” “Cowboy diplomacy”, used by President Bush, is bad because the threat of negative action makes dictators and bureaucrats around the world feel bad. Obama has mastered the ability to be tough with dictators without offending anyone. In fact he is so talented that Pakistan (Nukes!) won’t mind when we invade them to retrieve Osama Bin Laden, thereby ending global terrorism.
So circle up in the school yard and place your bets. Obama is poking McCain in the chest and trash-talking about what he is going to do.
I’m betting McCain has a different style of being tough…
