McCain, Iran, and History

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02 Jun 2008 12:06 pm

Today's AIPAC speech is about as strong an indicator that president McCain's Iran policy will be the same as George W. Bush's: rhetorical brinkmanship, no direct diplomacy, and ... more failed sanctions. And it also clarifies his strange view that the US has been in constant conversation with Tehran for two decades. Here's what McCain said last week:

Many believe all we need to do to end the nuclear programs of hostile governments is have our president talk with leaders in Pyongyang and Tehran, as if we haven't tried talking to these governments repeatedly over the past two decades.

Here's what he said today:

In reality, a series of administrations have tried to talk to Iran, and none tried harder than the Clinton administration. In 1998, the secretary of state made a public overture to the Iranians, laid out a roadmap to normal relations, and for two years tried to engage.

So we go from "tried talking to" to "tried to talk to." If Obama had made this swift a rhetorical adjustment, he'd be described as unready to be president or Clintonian.

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