Democrats Divided On Olympic Boycott
With less than a year before the first 2008 presidential caucuses, the Democratic candidates were on display Sunday in their second televised debate from New Hampshire. And unlike their Republican counterparts, the debate was not dominated by scaring viewers shitless about “imminent threats,” “terrorist attacks” and “torture.” The Democrats slammed the Bush administration, discussed methods for withdrawal from Iraq, opined on education reform (not mentioned in the Republican debate), and uniformly rejected Bill Clinton’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays in the military. The debate was broadcast on CNN and moderated by the man with the most carefully-groomed beard in all of television news, Wolf Blitzer. The most interesting part of the debate for me was when the Wolfman asked the candidates whether or not they would support boycotting the 2008 Beijing Olympics if China did not change its policy regarding the Darfur genocide. Only New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Senator John Edwards raised their hands. Richardson, who traveled to Darfur in January, said of the potential Olympic boycott, “We need China, which has enormous leverage over Darfur. If the Chinese don’t want to do this, we say to them, maybe we won’t go to the Olympics.” Edwards, who seems to be more lost than ever when it comes to the issues, acknowledged support for the boycott saying, “We should use whatever tools are available.” Had I been one of the candidates, I would have asked Edwards, “are you available?” and then stuck my hand out to whomever was next to me for a high-five.
•AFP: US Democrats Demand New Foreign Policy