Presidential Candidates response to Bhutto/Pakistan Crisis- Edwards passes w/"Flying Colors"

How did the candidates do in response to the assasination of Bhutto? An article from the Washington Post states that John Edwards "passed with flying colors" while Clinton was "substantive" and Obama seriously fumbled.

Edwards "managed not only to get Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the phone" but deliver a strong message to Musharraf to continue to follow the path towards democratization, as well. Well done, Senator. Actually, Edwards foreign policy advisor is in charge of the Iowa City office where I'm currently at, which is pretty cool. He's nice, and I can imagine he's floating pretty high knowing that he just got his boss an excellent nod from the Washington Post.

Obama, on the other hand, made his second big foreign policy boo-boo (his first came in a speech about Pakistan at the Wilson center for scholars in DC over the summer). Instead of keeping the assasination of Bhutto in the sphere of foreign policy, he decided to tie the assasination in with Clinton's vote on the Iraq war. Really, Obama? By attacking Clinton instead of properly responding to the situation- as Edwards did and Clinton partially did- Obama "failed to offer any substantive response to the ongoing crisis" and showed that he is now resorting to dirty campaigning in the last days before the Iowa caucus. Ouch. This one's gotta hurt.

In fact, it has. Polls are now showing that Edwards is ahead of both Clinton AND Obama, and especially when you include the 2nd choice of caucus-goers (a vital part of the Iowa caucus process, which most polls, and the media, tend to neglect), he wins by a 10pt margin! Maybe that's why Obama is now switching from attacking Clinton to attacking Edwards... Check the new McClatchy/MSNBC poll out here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/23940.html

Hey, but at least none of the Democratic candidates fumbled as bad as Huckabee, who seemed so lost when someone asked him about the situation. The Washington Post states, he said an appropriate U.S. response would include "very clear monitoring of our borders . . . to make sure if there's any unusual activity of Pakistanis coming into our country." The cynicism of this attempt to connect Pakistan's crisis with anti-immigrant sentiment was compounded by its astonishing senselessness" Ohhh, wouldn't it be fun to run against him in the general election?!

Did I mention I was in Iowa and working for the Edwards campaing? Oh. Well I am. And it is cold. But I will keep you updated as I get access to the internet.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post reflect those of the author ONLY. The Campus Democrats at UCSB do not endorse any signal candidate for the 2008 presidential election.