Spring Break
Op-Ed: Mock Debate reveals that it's all about foreign policy in 2008
by Emily Watkins
Op-Ed | 10/16/07
Posted online at 9:13 PM EST on 10/15/07
/ Last updated at 2:47 AM EST on 10/15/07
Last week the Brandeis College Democrats hosted a mock presidential debate at Cholmondeley's in which students representing presidential candidates argued over a myriad of issues facing America. High on the list of priorities are health care, the war in Iraq, global warming and energy efficiency and independence.
However, the American presidency is really only about one thing: foreign policy.
The American people have come to think that the president is in charge of the federal government. Yet, there are three branches of the federal government; the president heads only one of them. Yes, the president may have more power than any other single individual in the government, but this isn't a monarchy.
Presidents usually face a fierce congressional challenge over their economic and social policy. The role of congress in foreign affairs is usually more limited. For this reason, foreign policy must matter to voters. Domestic bills need to circle through the offices of hundreds of congressmen before having an effect. Foreign dignitaries visit only one office: The Oval Office.
The candidates at Chum's emphasized foreign policy more so than in past presidential campaigns. The Democrats have taken this up as an important issue largely because under President Bush, our role on the world stage has deteriorated tremendously. The United States once played the king on that stage; now we are more like the court jester.
By entering Iraq without the support of the United Nations and the international community, Bush was essentially saying that America is so strong that it doesn't need help. However, though America may have the military capabilities to start a war alone, the current administration doesn't have the strength or ability to end it, as evidenced by the civil war in Iraq. Bush's inability to end the war is in part a result of alienating America's world partners at the war's beginning. Now, in our hour of need, we have no one to help us.
However, the American presidency is really only about one thing: foreign policy.
The American people have come to think that the president is in charge of the federal government. Yet, there are three branches of the federal government; the president heads only one of them. Yes, the president may have more power than any other single individual in the government, but this isn't a monarchy.
Presidents usually face a fierce congressional challenge over their economic and social policy. The role of congress in foreign affairs is usually more limited. For this reason, foreign policy must matter to voters. Domestic bills need to circle through the offices of hundreds of congressmen before having an effect. Foreign dignitaries visit only one office: The Oval Office.
The candidates at Chum's emphasized foreign policy more so than in past presidential campaigns. The Democrats have taken this up as an important issue largely because under President Bush, our role on the world stage has deteriorated tremendously. The United States once played the king on that stage; now we are more like the court jester.
By entering Iraq without the support of the United Nations and the international community, Bush was essentially saying that America is so strong that it doesn't need help. However, though America may have the military capabilities to start a war alone, the current administration doesn't have the strength or ability to end it, as evidenced by the civil war in Iraq. Bush's inability to end the war is in part a result of alienating America's world partners at the war's beginning. Now, in our hour of need, we have no one to help us.
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