John Bolton defends Palin’s foreign policy cred

By Art Moore


John Bolton

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton says Sen. Barack Obama’s criticism of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s lack of foreign policy experience could backfire, insisting the presumptive vice-presidential nominee’s executive experience would serve her well in the White House.

“I don’t understand why the Obama campaign would want to make that an issue, which to me just calls attention to his own lack of experience in foreign policy,” Bolton told WND at the Republican National Convention.

Shortly after Sen. John McCain announced Palin as his running mate Friday, the Obama campaign pounced on the issue, charging the presumptive Republican nominee had “put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.”

The Nation’s Robert Dreyfuss wrote yesterday “it’s been hilarious this week watching Republican spokesmen trying to put a positive spin on Palin’s utter lack of foreign policy experience.”

But Bolton told WND he believes critics need to take into account Palin’s extensive executive experience.

“You know Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Papers that what is critical to the success of our system of government is what he called energy in the executive,” Bolton said. “And she has been energetic on a range of issues, particularly on issues involving energy, energy security.”

Energy security may be thought of as a domestic issue when American’s fill up their gas tanks, Bolton said, but it also should be regarded as a national security issue.


Sen. John McCain introducing Gov. Sarah Palin last Friday

Palin, 44, was elected mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, in 1996 after serving two terms on the city council. Later she was elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.

She made an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor in 2002. One year later, Gov. Frank Murkowski appointed her ethics commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. But she resigned in protest in 2004, charging fellow Republicans with a “lack of ethics” for legal violations and conflicts of interest. In November 2006, with little support from her party, she was elected governor, becoming Alaska’s first to be born after it achieved statehood.

Obama, 47, was a community organizer and civil rights attorney before serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2004.

“No ticket ever has every quality in both candidates that it wants,” Bolton said. “And the main thing is who’s going to be president on January the 20th, because I don’t think we can afford having somebody who’s not ready from day one.”

Bolton also argued that if the Republican ticket wins, Palin will have an opportunity in the administration to increase her knowledge and involvement in foreign affairs.

“I think you put your strength at the number one position and groom your successor in the number two position,” Bolton said. “You don’t do it the other way around.”

Palin’s first big test on the national stage comes tonight when she speaks here at the Republican convention.

Bolton served as interim U.S. ambassador to the U.N. on a recess appointed by President Bush from August 2005 until December 2006 after fierce opposition from Senate Democrats blocked his nomination. He is of counsel to the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, in Washington, D.C., and serves with a number of think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute.

 


Art Moore

Art Moore, co-author of the best-selling book "See Something, Say Nothing," entered the media world as a PR assistant for the Seattle Mariners and a correspondent covering pro and college sports for Associated Press Radio. He reported for a Chicago-area daily newspaper and was senior news writer for Christianity Today magazine and an editor for Worldwide Newsroom before joining WND shortly after 9/11. He earned a master's degree in communications from Wheaton College. Read more of Art Moore's articles here.