Five Other Foreign Policy Questions for Barack Obama

Barack Obama with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev
Photo source: AP

Tonight’s final 2012 presidential debate is dedicated to foreign policy. Given that there are only so many times Romney can ask the president what he knew about Benghazi and when did he know it, here are five other questions I’d like to hear:

1. Mr. President, prior to committing US air power to the overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, you obtained authorization from the United Nations Security Council, but not the United States Congress. Was this the right thing to do, and did it violate the War Powers Act?

2. The Arab Spring has brought the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamad Morsi to the Egyptian presidency, a man who is on record supporting the use of force against Israel and warning Coptic Christians they “need to know that conquest is coming, and Egypt will be Islamic, and that they must pay the jizya or emigrate.” In view of these statements, did you make a mistake in demanding the ouster of Morsi’s predecessor, Hosni Mubarak?

3. In 2007 you said, “I will make an absolute commitment that we will do everything we need to do to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.” In light of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s August report that Iran has accelerated its uranium enrichment activities, can you say that this commitment has been kept?

4. In his debate with Rep. Ryan, the vice president affirmed the administration’s promise to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan by 2014. Is that deadline realistic in view of the continuing violence in that country?

5. In March, you told Russian President Medvedev that you would have more “flexibility” regarding missile defense after the election. What did you mean by that and what do you plan to do after the election that you aren’t doing now?

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Join him on Twitter for live tweets of tonight’s debate.

What Mitt Romney REALLY needs to do in the debates

We’re two days from the first Romney/Obama debate, and the media is buzzing with advice for the Republican nominee: “provide specifics about a Romney presidency.” (Erin McPike, RealClearPolitics), “offer a tough critique of Obama's record, foreign and domestic, especially spending, taxes and Obamacare.” (Ralph Reed, quoted in The New York Times), “Move to clarity in drawing the contrast between the two.” (Newt Gingrich on Face the Nation. Although I'm not sure why Newt thinks that the guy who trounced him in the primaries needs his advice.)

I respectfully disagree with these esteemed commentators. What wins debates is not specifics, critiques, or contrasts. What wins debates is one-liners.

Consider the 2010 special election here in Massachusetts. Scott Brown got a much needed boost in his bid to succeed Ted Kennedy in the Senate with his famous retort, “It's not the Kennedys' seat, and it's not the Democrats' seat, it's the people's seat.”

Walter Mondale derailed Gary Hart’s 1984 White House bid by quoting a popular television commercial, “When I hear your new ideas, I’m reminded of that ad, ‘Where’s the beef?’” (Of course, Gary Hart derailed his 1988 White House bid without any help from his opponents.)

One-liners are particularly effective in neutralizing criticism. The “age issue” in the 1984 general election (Reagan was 73) completely went away when he promised, “I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

So Mitt: be prepared. The one-liners are what will be played endlessly on the news the next day. So if, on Wednesday, you haven’t got some ready to defuse a) Romneycare, b) the 47%, and c) your tax rate, you should look for new writers on Thursday.

P.S. Mitt, If you want a copy of my resume you can contact me through my publisher.

Michael Isenberg is the author of Full Asylum, a novel about politics, freedom, and hospital gowns. Check it out on Amazon.com.