McCain chastises Republicans for isolationism

HERE. McCain’s sort of politics (the use of force ostensibly for the good) is a poor fit for the moment, however, and isn’t what the voters are likely to be listening to next year.

People who think only about the past decade or past several decades of history may think of the U.S. as inherently interventionistic. But in fact, national history has long shown polarizations and wild oscillations between interventionism and isolationism. The classic example of this, of course, was when the first American intervention in Europe in WWI was followed by the rejection of the League of Nations immediately afterward. There the two separate national impulses appeared in rapid sequence. Both impulses probably share a common root in political moralism, since with a moralistic stance on anything your reactions are likely to be polarized: sometimes wanting to go out and make things better even if by force, other times wanting to wash your hands of the corruption of others and focus on your own life.

It’s little surprise, with Obama now the owner of 2 or even 3 wars (if you count Libya as the third) that the Republican candidates are trying to position themselves as non-interventionists. It’s a useful option for them, allowing them to distance themselves from Bush and also to make the case for disengagement on the basis of fiscal responsibility, a traditional Republican pillar, at least in theory (they’ve tended to run up giant debts whenever in power since the Reagan years).

Yes, it’s fairly cynical of the Republican candidates given that their man Bush was still in power just 2.5 years ago, and they all spoke regularly in his honor in January 2009. But it makes strategic sense for them to fill that gap in the spectrum, given that Obama doesn’t appear ready to disengage from anywhere, though the mood of the electorate may soon begin to demand it. Somewhat paradoxically, the military elimination of bin Laden may add to the demilitarizing pressure on Obama, since “mission accomplished” sounds a bit less ridiculous in that case, and people have other more immediate worries than chasing Taliban around that they want government to address.