CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Oct. 15, 2008 – 1:37 p.m.
Obama’s ‘Diplomacy’ Wins a Republican Endorsement
By Adam Graham-Silverman, CQ Staff
The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee parted ways with his party’s presidential nominee Wednesday by endorsing Democrat Barack Obama ’s approach to diplomacy.
In a lengthy speech at the National Defense University, Indiana Sen. Richard G. Lugar weighed the benefits of talking to foreign leaders, including U.S. enemies, against other actions, such as military force. The issue marks one of the sharpest divides between Obama and John McCain , who has called the Democratic nominee naive for suggesting that he would sit down with leaders such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Lugar, however, praised Obama, noting that isolation often does not resolve contentious issues.
“He correctly cautions against the implication that hostile nations must be dealt with almost exclusively through isolation or military force,” Lugar said in a prepared remarks released before his speech. “In some cases, refusing to talk can even be dangerous.”
Lugar, however, said McCain is right to warn that “there are times when diplomatic approaches to rogue regimes have little efficacy.” But he cited North Korea, which was just removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terror, as a diplomatic success story and urged more contact with Syria and Iran.
This is not the first time Lugar and Obama have seen eye-to-eye on foreign policy issues. Lugar noted back in July that he was “pleased” to have worked with Obama on nuclear proliferation issues after an Obama ad ran mentioning Lugar by name.
Lugar also used his speech to underscore his concern that U.S. foreign policy has become too reactive.
“If most U.S. foreign policy attention is devoted to crises fomented by hostile regimes, we are ceding the initiative to our enemies and reducing our capacity to lead the world in ways that are more likely to affect our future,” Lugar said.
Comments
Obama could do worse than Dick Lugar as Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State.... Lugar has a long history of working closely with Joe Biden and obviously has a strong working relationship with Barack.
So Obama can reach across the aisle after all. I thought only John McCain could do that. Have I been misled? Is it possible that Sen. Obama can talk to Republicans without besmirching them? John, say it ain't true. And while you're at it, John, (you don't mind if I call you "John," do you? I mean, we are "friends" and all), can you tell me how you intend to reach across the aisle to Sen. Obama if by some chance you win the White House? You have, after all, pretty much called him a terrorist whose veracity is in question.
Thank you, Senator Lugar!
Dick Lugar hails back to a republican party fundamentally different from the group who today carries the name. Lugar is thoughtful, informed, possesses gravitas and recognizes strengths and differences while maintaining a civil tone. Other members of his party could learn from him and should learn from him.
I love Sen. Dick Lugar but I do not expect a cabinet post. Dick Lugar is 76 years old and it is doubtful he would be interested in such a position during this time of war.
I was John McCains biggest fan. The key word here is was. I also respected Obama a great deal. I was one of the 3% of undecided voters. When McCain picked Palin I wasn't pleased but I held on, the negative campaigning that we were promised wouldn't happen, obviously happened. Obama didn't start it McCain did. I've gone from putting a McCain bumper sticker on my truck in 2000 to barely recognizing the man that showed up tonight. I am extremely dissapointed in McCain and will be voting Obama.
Senator Dick Lugar does, indeed, hail from a different kind of Republican Party in Indiana than the current crowd. He like Bill Ruckelshaus, first head of the EPA, came to DC with the support of a local and state party leader named Keith Bulen who taught all of us the value of integrity and practicality in all things both political and personal. Like Senator Lugar, Ruckelshaus has endorsed the principles espoused by Senator Obama but has gone one step further by endorsing Obama's candidacy. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/04/17/watergate-era-republican-backs-obama/ Such endorsements may help explain why red states like Indiana are shading blue this year.
Senator Lugar I have always admired your approach to foreign policy, and have often thought that the GOP wasted your talents by not getting behind you in your previous Presidential campaigns. I congratulate you on this rational assessment of foreign policy, and would urge you, even at this late stage, to use your undoubted influence in Indiana to endorse Senator Obama. Thank you, Sir.
Richard Lugar has always represented the best in the GOP; he reminds me of the 50s-60s moderate Republicans such as Margaret Chase Smith, Jacob Javits, John Sherman Cooper, and Kenneth Keating. Today, these four would be anomalies in this ideologically-trapped party (Remember Lincoln Chaffee..?). Yes, Lugar is thoughtful and smart (Rhodes Scholar, I believe) as well as informed and temperate. Having now seen John McCain and Barack Obama on the stump and throughout the debates, I am amazed that it is the younger candidate who is more thoughtful and temperate. McCain's performance - as well as his cynical, thoughtless pick of Sarah Palin for V.P. - have simply left me cold. I think that both McCain and Palin are dangerous. Obama may not have as much experience as I would like, but he has the temperament, intelligence, knowledge, and fortitude to make a good president; therefore, I'll be voting for him and Joe Biden come November 4.
This is great. Lugar is one of the few decent Republicans left. Obviously, it's no longer the "Party of Lincoln." Or Eisenhower. Or even Baker-Dirksen-Percy-Brooke. Next up is Colin Powell's endorsement. Warmonger McCain's "shoot-and-bomb first, ask questions later" approach just doesn't cut it. Obama is going to make history in a couple of weeks. All aboard!
We have been lucky in many of our Senators. On the republican side Lugar and Hagle are such good and wise men. On the democrat side Clinton, Kennedy, Dodd, Schumer. It would be tempting to take good leaders out of the Senate and put them in the cabinet-----but then who would keep the Senate working in a good way? We are familiar with their names because they are often in the news for the work that they do. Hopefully there are others with experience and wisdom who are not in the Senate and who could do an outstanding job of serving the country from the White House. With Kennedy, Biden and Obama already out of the Senate, it's difficult to see a way to take more of the good guys out. The Senate could be even more scary with the wrong leaders and committee chairs.
As an Arizonan I am very familiar with John McCain and his Promise to us that he would not run a negative campaign. He is a SHAME on the Entire State of Arizona! A lot of us here in AZ are disgusted with McCain and we will be united against him when he runs for re-election to the Senate in a couple of years. Obama/ Biden '08!
Dick Lugar has slipped into the same trap that captured former Indiana Senator Birch Bayh and is tugging at Evan Bayh - the interest of those who make them feel important in lieu of those who elected them. Dick Lugar for too long has only been a Hoosier only at election time while he remains a Belt Way politician the remainder of the time and could not find his way to Indiana without a staffer arranging his travel. We knew he had been captured by the bright lights of the city but never thought he would publicly prostitute himself to the other side. Dick Lugar has totally lost touch with those who elected him and it is disappointing that he is so old he will not run again and be able to enjoy the taste of defeat from his long forgotten constituents.
Now we know who the REAL maverick Republican is!
Yay obama, i am just under age to vote but i support obama all the way! yay hope!
Well 'Southern Indiana Hoosier'.... Being a Hoosier, and someone who votes for Lugar every time I have to tell you he seems very much in touch with this state. Indiana is not a southern conservative red state as you would like to think. It is a moderate state that on the whole lacks extremist views on many issues (including foreign relations) The fact that this year Indiana is a swing state (regardless of who wins it) clearly shows that Lugar is clearly in touch with the people of this great state. If Lugar ran again he would win, no doubt about it. No republican would beat him in a primary, and no democrat would best him in a state wide election. Dick Lugar is prime example of the long lost republican party of the past. The one that actually had political arguments to get them in office, instead of religious ones.... If only the republican party had more people like Dick Lugar, this country would be in a much better place right now. No doubt about it.
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