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Grading Democrats on Euro Missile Defense Ruckus
Travis | Sep 18, 2009 |
2 
When a missile defense policy shift comes along, you must whip it
Given the important role Congress will play in enacting or rejecting President Obama’s upcoming foreign policy agenda, Capitol Hill’s reaction yesterday to the European missile defense announcement is worth analyzing as a sign of challenges to come.
Most Republicans who spoke out publicly lambasted the administration’s proposed alterations. That was to be expected. Missile defense is an article of faith for conservatives and any shift away from the Bush plan was bound to elicit mass GOP apoplexy.
More interesting was the response of Obama’s own party. There are 133 Democrats (plus Lieberman) who are the most important on arms control policy: 59 (currently) caucusing Senate Democrats; 36 House Armed Services Committee Democrats; 28 House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats; and 11 House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Democrats.
According to my website canvassing (as of 4:30 PM)…
...only six Democrats issued statements yesterday about the European missile defense decision. That is only 4.5% of key arms control Democrats. Of the six statements, only three – from Sen. Carl Levin (D-Michigan), Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Missouri), and Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Florida) – offered strong support for the administration (the six statements appear below). Kudos to both the Senate and House Armed Services Committee staffs for getting the two chairmen out in front of the issue where they belong.
On the parochial side of the ledger, Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) appeared to endorse the decision only because it might lead (as he urged) to full deployment of ground-based interceptors in Alaska. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) expressed reservation about Obama’s plan because the scotched European GMD system would have been built by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems headquartered in St. Louis.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (ID-Connecticut) offered his typical scathing attack on Democratic foreign policy. I’ll leave that one alone.
In sum, congressional Democrats had an incredibly weak showing on the missile defense announcement yesterday. Only one positive statement released from the entire Senate Democratic caucus? Not good.
Missile defense will continue to be a major campaign issue for the Republican Party (Exhibits A, B, C, D). I understand – intimately – that taking a critical stand on missile defense leaves one exposed to political attacks. Nevertheless, if Democrats believe in Obama’s strategy, they must be willing to expose themselves to political assault by publicly endorsing administration policy. This is about party politics and public perception, and nothing else will do.
Though a congressional press release is relatively small potatoes in the larger scheme of things, it can lead to news reports in smaller local media outlets that are critical shapers of public opinion. And though the complexities of missile defense are often obscured by intuition - as in “How could anyone oppose something meant to defend America?” - members of Congress are masters at translating complex details into comprehensible quips. Thus, through their access to local media and ability to communicate effectively with regular folks, members of Congress have a huge role to play in sustaining or undermining public support for Obama’s arms control and missile defense initiatives.
Six Statements
Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska): "Assuming the President's decision to cancel missile system deployment in Europe is final, Alaska's [ground-based midcourse] system must be fully deployed and properly maintained to protect America from attacks by rogue states."
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Michigan): “President Obama has made a sound choice that will improve our security.”
Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Connecticut): "This deeply regrettable decision sends the wrong message to Tehran, Moscow, and our European allies at a critical time in our effort to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri): “I am concerned about the Administration’s abrupt decision today to cancel the long-planned missile defense deployment to two important allies, the Czech Republic and Poland.”
Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Missouri): “It appears the new missile defense strategy for Europe is a comprehensive approach that will counter the most immediate missile threats from Iran and protect our allies and our troops in the region.”
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Florida): “I applaud the Obama Administration's bold decision to revamp America’s missile defense policy and develop a plan that protects the United States, Europe and our allies, and addresses more immediate threats, including short and medium-range missiles from Iran.”
Security Matters, Missile Defense, Congress (all tags)
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