Driving around town this morning I happened to tune into the President’s press conference. I confess I have stopped listening to them. I had long ago concluded that the histrionic press corps and the testy and now too-familiar replies from the President generally failed to illuminate or even amuse. However, I must say he was effective and even articulate on several topics of much interest in the upcoming race.
First, he was passionate and persuasive on free trade. (In reality, outside the confines of a Democratic primary now bearing down on Ohio, there are few, if any, justifications for unilaterally backing out of NAFTA.) President Bush made the domestic economic argument (i.e. we have gained jobs and are dependent on exports, and future high-paying jobs depend on open markets) as well as the international argument (i.e. if you want to help our friends and our own standing in the world then backing out of NAFTA is a strange way to go about it). It may not be popular in some states, but, like the President, John McCain is indisputably on the right side of this issue. (Or perhaps Obama doesn’t really mean what he says.)
President Bush also lit into Congress for holding up FISA re-authorization on the issue of immunity for telecommunications companies. As he said, how are we going to conduct surveillance and get private companies to cooperate if they are free game for the plaintiffs’ bar? Again, I would like to hear Barack Obama’s defense on this one.
President Bush also gave a rather articulate explanation as to why we should not sit down with Raul Castro, especially with no preconditions. He reeled off a list of reasons–giving prestige to a dictator, demoralizing human rights activists, and thwarting reform efforts. This is yet another issue on which, outside the confines of a liberal Democratic primary audience, Obama may have a harder time with his position.
Finally, President Bush echoed a point that McCain has picked up on: Obama’s notion that we should leave Iraq immediately but double back if Al-Qaeda reappeared is simply uninformed and goofy. The President noted that the terrorists did try to set up a base in Anbar province and the Marines successfully (at least so far) have defeated them. Obama will find a far tougher argument against an opponent whose main response is something other than “me too.”
All in all, I was reminded that on certain subjects President Bush can be quite effective. Granted, much of the public may have tuned Bush out. But there is general election on the horizon in which a new, very forceful Republican can make his pitch on positions which (I suspect) will resonate with a good chunk of the electorate.
