Jonah is haunted by a “poltergeist” that says the nation may be better off if Democrats win the White House in 2008.
Let me throw out the really worrisome scenario… suppose the Democrats win the White House, and keep control of Congress in 2008. And in 2009, in the midst of a “reaching out to the world” public diplomacy campaign, the Democratic-led nation is reminded, once again, that we live in a dangerous world. Suppose additional terrorist attacks on our soil. Suppose Iran sets off a nuclear weapon. Suppose there is a coup in Pakistan and the resulting defensive maneuvers by India, or Karzai is assassinated in Afghanistan, or attacks on the oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia (and/or the royal family flees), China makes a move on Taiwan, an urban intifada in European cities, or the Islamists really make a push in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan or the Gulf states. Or, if we’re really feeling gloomy, all of the above.
Would the Democrats “learn their lesson” and become more realist/hawkish/ serious/aggressive in the defense of the country?
Or would they find it more convenient to blame the previous administration for “poisoning the well” so badly that they couldn’t fix it? Is a quasi-isolationism really that unthinkable?
Would even a hawkish president find himself or herself hemmed in by a dovish legislative majority, like Tony Blair finds himself in the Labour Party?