White House deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs in the Clinton administration, co-author of “The Prosperity Agenda: What the World Wants From America and What We Need in Return”
The debate questions, regardless of their topic, are less important than the zingers the candidates must deploy — prepared answers calculated to address lingering fears of their respective weaknesses. Obama critics think he is too eager to negotiate and go first to the U.N. McCain detractors say he is another reckless George Bush who will restart the Cold War. Thus, Obama must demonstrate that he is capable of a puffy-chest moment (“You’re damn right I will not bother to ask Pakistan for permission to kill bin Laden.”) while McCain must convey that he knows it sometimes takes more political courage to negotiate than to fight. So, let’s hear them:
Assuming you both would be tough negotiators, at what point would each of you consider using force to protect Georgia and to prevent a nuclear Iran? How do you know when to give up on talks and resort to military force?