Brit Hume yesterday on Fox News Sunday had a dead-on critique of American foreign policy under President Obama.

America is not what’s wrong with the world. And a strong America, assertive in foreign policy, showing its strength, is good for the world, and it has a lot better effect on allies and enemies alike than what we’re seeing now, this policy of almost determined weakness on the part of President Obama. Now, look. That decision you mentioned with the missile defense in Europe is militarily defensible. But it looked to all the world, and must have looked in the Kremlin, as if this was a capitulation. And these kinds of things add up over time.

Even Chris Matthews, who used to get shivers up his leg at the mere mention of Obama’s name, has asked if his foreign policy is “Carteresque.” That is not a compliment, even on MSNBC.

Elections seldom turn on foreign policy, and with high unemployment, soaring deficits, and a threatening vast enlargement of the power and responsibility of the federal government on voters’ minds, the 2010 election is not likely to be one that does either. But I would advise every Republican office holder and office seeker to work Brit Hume’s words — “America is not what’s wrong with the world” — into every discussion of foreign policy. Hume’s pithy phrase both captures exactly what is wrong with Obama’s foreign policy and avoids even a hint of jingoism. Outside the liberal bubble, this is a deeply patriotic country. The phrase will resonate with the overwhelming majority of Americans.