IS OBAMA VULNERABLE IN FOREIGN POLICY? - AT 8:38 A.M. ET:  From The Politico: 

Republicans are hoping they have finally found the secret to taking on President Barack Obama — by portraying him as overly apologetic about U.S. misdeeds and naive about engaging unfriendly regimes abroad.

But tagging Obama as a “Jimmy Carter Democrat” on foreign affairs and national security may prove a difficult critique to make stick - at least for the moment.

That is because Obama and his aides have sought to inoculate themselves against the charge with a simple defense: This is what the public voted for in November.

The White House says Obama made clear that his foreign policy approach called for engagement and admitting mistakes where warranted and that voters embraced that sharp break with eight years of the Bush administration.

COMMENT:  As the story points out, there are risks for both sides.  On the one hand, it's clearly too early for Republicans to claim that Obama's foreign policy is a flop, because there haven't been enough results.  The early signs - the North Korean missile test, Iran's back of the hand, European fecklessness over Afghanistan, the Latin American "blame everything on the Yankee" summit - are not encouraging, and we have slammed the president here for the endless grovel gambit.  But we need clearer results for there to be real political effect.  Sadly, I think we'll have them, and sooner rather than later.

On the other hand, the Obamans play a dangerous game when they assert that Americans "voted" for this approach in November.  They voted primarily to throw the rascals out, and their votes were heavily affected by the financial crisis.  I doubt if a majority of Americans voted for policies that often seem weak and aimless.  And 46% voted for the very tough John McCain.

That said, I think, and I've said this here before, that it's simplistic to label Obama another Carter, although there are some similarities in the way in which both men engage the world.  But I think Obama is sharper, is a better and more astute politician, and is, frankly, considerably less obnoxious than Carter.  If Obama's foreign policy begins to fail, I think he may have the ability to see the facts and make changes.  Carter lacked that ability, and still does.

Look, we can hope.  We want the president, any president, to conduct a foreign policy that protects the nation.

April 21, 2009