Delaware Liberal

Best Description Of Republican Candidates I’ve Read This Cycle

And it comes from our very own newspaper, the News Journal. Muqtedar Khan is a UD professor that writes a column about international issues for the NJ. In a recent column he discusses the international policy views of both Glen Urquhart and John Carney. He describes Urquhart this way:

Glen Urquhart, a wealthy businessman with some Washington experience, is primarily a “one of each” candidate. He has one domestic policy issue — the burgeoning national debt — and one international issue — a space-based missile defense shield. He speaks passionately, though not necessarily convincingly, on those issues.

But when one raises other topics, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Middle East, U.S. relations with the Muslim world — key issues which have dominated American foreign relations for a nearly a decade, he appeared to be out of his depth.

He believes peace can be achieved only through strength and because America has become weak, it is vulnerable to “irrational people who do irrational things.” His panacea is investment in a space-based interceptor program. This missile shield, he argues, will not only protect the U.S. but also its allies, making preemptive wars unnecessary. He believes this would also solve the problem of Iran’s nuclear program by ensuring Israeli security.

Urquhart says his leadership style is based on “principle, reflection and is relational,” and backed by his faith in reconciliation and pragmatism. The message he is trying to send is that he is a man of faith and principles, who can relate to people and is willing to learn on the job. He believes he can bring reconciliation between America and the Muslim world. He is proud of his “independent perspective” and that he stood up to his own party.

Is there any better description of the current crop of Republican candidates than this?

Urquhart has done a pretty good job (since April) of keeping his head down and riding on the conservative coattails of Christine O’Donnell – without all the baggage that she has. Dr. Khan perfectly describes how I feel when I see Urquhart – when you’ve seen him one time, you’ve seen him every time. He relentlessly harps on his narrow issues until your ears bleed.

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