Obama is shaping Dems foreign policy debate

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sen. Barack Obama is getting polite applause at best when he tells the delegates at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention here this week that in running for president, "I know I am running for commander in chief." And then he tries to convince this skeptical audience that he's the right man for the job.

Obama reminds them he opposed the war in Iraq, even though most of the delegates doubtless supported it. He lauds the soldiers fighting there even as he criticizes the civilians of the Bush administration who have managed the war. He says we have "no good options in Iraq," and that the U.S. must be careful about how it withdraws. He warns that when a president sends soldiers to war next time, the country must be united enough to sustain the fight.

The blue-capped vets certainly aren't cheering wildly when Obama is done, but to judge from the dozens who rush up to meet him, he seems to have reassured this conservative audience that he's not a left-wing devil.

Obama has indisputable star power. Travel with him on the campaign trail and you see the high-voltage connection he can establish with people.

What Obama is now attempting is to translate this charisma into a serious political movement that would allow him not simply to win the Democratic nomination but to govern effectively as president. He is putting special emphasis on defense and foreign policy, where voters have often mistrusted Democrats to protect the country. And as he did in his speech here, he's putting more substance into his pitch than candidates often do.

Indeed, you can argue that over the past month, Obama has been shaping the foreign policy debate for the Democrats -- and getting the best of the arguments. By last Sunday's televised debate in Iowa, nobody else seemed eager to challenge Obama's postulate that "strong countries and strong presidents meet and talk with our adversaries."

Sen. Hillary Clinton's stance has been more cautious, seeking to convey a general but vaguely defined sense that her toughness and experience would make her a strong president. Obama is taking the opposite tack.

Obama added some new foreign policy details in an interview Tuesday afternoon, before he hopped a plane for his next stop in New Hampshire. He said he expects there will still be U.S. troops in Iraq when the next president takes office, and he is discussing now with his advisers how this residual force should be used. "For getting out in an orderly way, withdrawing one to two brigades a month is realistic," he said. With 20 combat brigades currently in Iraq, that would imply a withdrawal schedule of at least a year.

So what should the remaining troops do? Obama says he would support keeping U.S. forces in and around Iraq for protection of U.S. personnel, for counterterrorist operations against al-Qaida, for protecting Iraq's borders, and perhaps for continued training of Iraq's military if that country's political situation permits.

And what of diplomatic contacts with America's adversaries, such as Iran? Obama said he would talk to Iranian leaders about stabilizing Iraq, where he says they have a common interest, about halting Iranian terrorist activities in Iraq, and about the Iranian nuclear program. He said he would make suspension of nuclear enrichment by Iran a topic for discussions, rather than a precondition as it is for the Bush administration.

Obama is deftly managing to outflank his Democratic rivals on both the left and right on key foreign policy issues. That may be a piece of political opportunism on his part, but a top Obama adviser gives it a different spin, which may reveal the essence of the man: "He is totally pragmatic. He asks what would work and what wouldn't."

© 2007, Washington Post Writers Group