I guess McCain's EXPERIENCE in foreign affairs has actually played to his advantage; ie, he knew where this was headed because he can actually remember the soviet union first hand without having to refer to a history book.

Don't worry though, Obama has now taken both sides of the argument and has, therefore, won the debate on the issue

THAT IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE LEADERSHIP

OF A NATION, FEEL FREE TO BOMB THEM.

AS A SUPPORTER OF A WAR THAT HAS KILLED

A MILLION IRAQIS & THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS,

MCSENILE DOESN'T HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON,

WITH THE RUSSIANS OR THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

IRRELEVANT AND DOMESTICALLY BROKE.

They are both candidates, and anything they say on the stump doesn't come with the degree of information and responsibility that the (unfortunately) current President has at his disposal.

It is really easy for McCain to start hopping up and down within hours of the onset of hostilities (which, by all accounts I've seen, was STARTED by the Georgians) that this is all Russia's fault. OOOOOO– Big, tough man pulling out the dusty old demagoguery of the Cold War! Red meat for a bunch of sentimental anti-communist right-wingers missing the good ol' days.

Obama's position was completely appropriate, especially given that (though briefed), he inherently has limited information from which to work. Obviously, the call MUST be for a peaceful resolution. As some prior bloggers have pointed out, there's NO way we can intervene (under our current circumstances). But, given Russia's rather aggressive decision to ignore Georgia's pleas for mercy this weekend and apparently inclination to wipe out the independent, sovereign country next to them, Obama's statement today is entirely correct.

So, stop this nonsense about not having his own ideas. UNLIKE Bush and UNLIKE McCain, Obama's brain responds to changing circumstances in the real world. Friday, things were not so clear. Today, the balance of blame seems more weighted to the side of Russia. That's NOT "flip flopping" or "wishy washy" or whatever: that's adjusting to the facts.

Oh, and "RedGuyInAblueState": I can promise you there has been no polling on this issue that Obama could have reacted to.

Berney, RIP Brother.

Substance over Hype.

McCain 08

IT DOESN'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE FACT THAT

WE DON'T HAVE A LEG, NOT EVEN A SMALL TOE,

TO STAND ON, WHEN IT COMES TO REACTING,

DEMANDING OR EVEN SUGGESTING ANYTHING

ABOUT ANYONE'S WAR ACTIVITIES, DUE TO THE

IRAQ WAR, WHICH BY THE WAY, MCMORON IS AND

WAS FORE IT. WE HAVE NO CREDIBILITIES IN THAT

ARENA, WHATS SO EVER.

But why am I not surprised??? Go Figure.

Substance over Empty Suit.

McCain 08

Why are you all so keen on less jobs and more wars?

Obama has it EXACTLY right, say as little as can be said until you know what the heck is going on and where the world stands. There's no point in saber rattling off the bat.

Tough talk with the Russians will quickly make you a paper lion as we have little to offer as far as sticks to motivate them. You get out her with diarrhea mouth that you can't back up and next thing you know you're a joke. Make no threats against the Russkies that you are not prepared to back up.
McCain is running on throwing Russia and China out of the G8, do you think that puts them in the frame of mind to negotiate?

Hawks are dangerous!

i used to respect hillary. so far i havent heard her come out very strongly to get her supporters to come back to reality. on the other hand, we know who owns the american media so it wouldnt surprise me if they just didnt run it when she spoke.

we KNOW for a fact that the repugs are liars and cheaters, and that's the ONLY way they can win. i know some seriosuly hard-core bushies and they are voting for obama. i think all this "Close race" stuff is nonsense. besides, all the recent polls say obama by 6-12 points. only a nut would vote for mccain, for 4 more years of this nightmare.

MCCAIN IS JUST TRYING USE THE PLIGHT OF GEORGIA FOR POLITICAL GAIN. HE READ EVERYTHING FOR WIKAPEDIA...

IGNORANT AND OLD GRAY HEAD MEN SENDING OUR YOUNG MEN TO FIGHT WARS BECAUSE OF THEIR COCKINESS.

HAHAHA

Now we cannot afford another war and even Afghanistan remains a challenge. Our volunteer army has been stretched to its limits.

Odds are McBush will bring back the draft. These are tough times indeed.

WHAT BUSH HAS DONE IS MADE OUR COUNTRY NOT BE IN A POSITION TO BE THE PEACE KEEPERS IN THE WORLD. ALL BUSH AND MCCAIN KNOW IS WAR. SEND YOUNG PEOPLE TO FIGHT.

OBAMA IS RIGHT TO SIT BACK AND SEE WHAT THE REAL SITUATION IS AND GET WITH LEADERS IN THAT REGION AND FORM COALITIONS. YOU CAN'T JUST CONDEMN WITH RHETORIC AND NOT EXPECT PEOPLE TO REACT AS RUSSIA IS DOING.

REMEMBER, BUSH AND THE 'WITH US OR AGAINST US STATEMENTS' ... THE REST OF THE WORLD SAID GO IT ALONE IN IRAQ.,

BARACK IS SMART ENOUGH NOT TO START SPEAKING RHETORIC BEFORE UNDERSTANDING THE SITUATION.

Obama and McCain have been on the same page on this since the beginning. The only difference is that McCain is stupid enough to suggest we alienate the Russians. If Obama were president, we'd have 50,000 troops available to move into Georgia and stop this now.

Neither of them should be getting in the middle of a developing situation. Commenting on this is far different than commenting on Iraq or Afghanistan where we are already committed and our soldiers are dying.

This is no time for meddling / mix signals about what the America governments commitments are from two people that don't have the power or authority to deploy the the BOY SCOUTS.

McCain spoke on the situation of Friday ... ok ... then Saturday ... then Sunday ... now Monday. At this point, STFU. You are not the President.
- – - – - - – - – - – -

If were weren't bogged down in Iraq, we might have the troop strength to respond in Georgia. Right now, the Russians don't worry about us because we can't respond militarily with conventional troops in a timely manner. If Barack's approach had been taken, we'd have the troops.

If Bush had better relations with other world leaders, he might have been successful getting Georgia into NATO. That would have provided a deterent to Russia because, within NATO, an attack on 1 is an attack on all. Unfortunately, George Bush didn't have the diplomatic juice to get this done. I doubt that McCain would either.

Yes, Barack may have Flip-Flopped a little (maybe a little too much), and yes, McCain was hypocritical (very much so). But they are both wrong with this. They are both using public opinion to improve their image. Even though I am an Obama supporter, I don't agree with him here.

You can't blame Obama for being an empty suit here. Bush (and McCain) lay down empty threats on Russia, but he won't actually attack them, because they have nukes and are very powerful. All you people calling him an empty suit, you're being hypocritical as well.

We should try to end it. But we can't blame Russia for this, Georgia isn't innocent here.

Obama '08

A measured response is best and now that we see that Russia is not stopping, yes, it looks like McCain was correct. He gets the point on this one but I think Obama has been right more often on foreign affairs in the last 6 months.

WHAT A FOLLOWER – I THOUGHT HE WAS THE CANDIDATE OF CHANGE? WATCH HIS ZOMBIES SAY WHAT A GREAT LEADER HE IS GOING TO BE.

Anyone who believes that McCain came up with a Seven Point Plan that fast needs to have their head examined.

He can't even READ his Seven Point Plan! GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!

I'll take a "Thinker" over a "Blowhard Warmonger"any day.

OBAMA08