Cast your mind back to the 2000 Election. Lots of yammer-yammer about Social Security. Abortion. Gun Control. The Clinton Economy. The Clinton Scandals.
What didn’t you hear about?
Foreign Policy.
The US public hates to talk about foreign policy. Because it’s scary. It requires thought, and education, and difficult decisions. It requires considering other viewpoints. It requires deciding the extent to which we should impose our beliefs on others, negotiate them, or simply let others do what they will — all of the above for good and for evil.
That’s not to say that foreign policy hasn’t been critical across all our past administrations. Viet Nam. Detente. Iran. Tienmin Square. Ethiopia. Iraq. The collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The Balkins. And, everyone’s favorite, Israel and the Palestinians.
Every president has had to face US obligations to and interests in the world. But aside from some joking about Dubya not knowing how to pronounce the names of foreign countries, let alone foreign leaders, there was almost nothing in Election 2000(TM) that had anything to do with matters outside of US borders.
Well, matters outside of US borders have now crossed our borders.
I wonder how future presidential elections will be different. Or if.