Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) is leading polls in Iowa, and is among the top three in most national polls. He has been considered strong with conservatives and especially with those who like his tough guy defeat of public service labor unions and the budget cuts in general. Some have been alarmed by his attacks on school budgets and his poorly disguised attempted to gut what has made the University of Wisconsin among the best academically of all state universities. Domestic policy and budget toughness are his trademarks.
But Walker has no experience in foreign affairs and had a number of early gaffes suggesting he had little understanding of the complexities of the diplomatic and foreign policy aspects of the job of president.
Now that the Iran nuclear deal is front and center in political discussions, Walker tried to jump out ahead in establishing his hawk credentials this past weekend in speaking to the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. He declared that the next president needs to be ready to take aggressive military action against Iran on inauguration day.
He had already promised to "terminate" the nuclear deal on his first day in office, but now he's taking it a notch higher -- evoking the image of taking the oath of office at noon and then possibly ordering planes to attack Iran in the afternoon.
Walker's aides had accused Jeb Bush of being soft on Iran for suggesting it wouldn't be easy to "unwind" the agreement and that it's unrealistic to say you would do it on the first day. "It sounds great, but maybe you ought to check in with your allies first . . . [and] have your team in place before you take an act like that," said Bush. Walker's brash statement led Bush to issue a response, saying he "would begin immediately to responsibly get us out of this deal."
Woah, there, cowboys. Bush had it right the first time. This agreement isn't just between Iran and the U.S. It also involves England, France, Germany, China, and Russia who have something to say about it.
The complexity of foreign affairs and diplomatic negotiations is beyond most of these Republican candidates -- and the nuance is even further beyond their political process. Demagoguery and hawk racing will stir the macho base, but it's dangerous in the world we live in.
We don't need a president who is driven to prove he's the toughest of the lot.
Ralph
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