National Journal's transition coverage includes this interview with Sen. Richard Lugar, Republican of Indiana, who was close to President-elect Obama in the Senate and was considered a potential choice for Secretary of State, though here he says he has no interest in leaving the Senate. Nonetheless, Lugar, a moderate Republican, had an interesting way of framing foreign policy questions in terms of the global economic crisis:
Their monumental agenda -- solving the world credit crisis and banking crisis and trade crisis -- will [also] have a huge international focus. At a time in which the Pew survey and others have pointed out for years that we have been disapproved more than approved in other countries, we suddenly have an opportunity, if we are skillful in our own diplomacy and leadership, to take charge of these areas in a way in which world opinion will be highly supportive.
...It's not a question of a 9-11, of somebody attacking New York or Washington. The fact is that people are losing their jobs even as we talk about it. The juice is going out of the system. In that respect, you can say this man will be tested in a way that nobody else has been tested. It is the kind of test that Barack Obama could be fully capable of making extraordinary progress. If so, that won't mean immediate prosperity in our country in 2009, or maybe even the following year, but he has some chance of seeing our country and the world move along during his term of office in a trend line which is very satisfying.
One thing that John McCain in particular and Republicans in general had a problem with during the campaign was framing international issues so that people could relate to the issue personally, an opening that Obama was able to exploit. It made McCain seem out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people. Lugar, on the other hand, has puts these issues very well, framing them in the context of international cooperation. He looks to be a key ally on foreign policy issues for the Obama administration in the Senate, and, as the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, stands to be a very helpful one.
--Tim Fernholz
