Like Matt and Ezra, I find this whole "Obama lacks substance" argument extremely dubious. A simple comparison of the two campaigns' Web sites will show that Obama has provided more detail. And when Politico went out and did some easy reporting on the topic, it discovered that, sure enough, McCain's policy proposals are light on the details, not to mention the policies and the proposals. But there aren't any questions on that front, because if you've been in Washington for a few decades you're allowed to radically shift your policies as much as you want without criticism (unless you're a Democrat).
Particularly egregious is this essay from Clinton dead-ender Sean Wilentz, who managed to criticize Obama's substance without trying to learn anything about it. He also apparently favors the McCain-Bush foreign policy:
Then, suddenly this summer, Russia attacked Georgia -- and Obama's immediate reaction was to call for reasonableness and good intentions and urge both sides to show restraint and enter into direct talks. Unfortunately his appeal sounded almost like a caricature of liberal wishful thinking. It was left to his opponent, John McCain -- whose own past judgments on foreign policy demand scrutiny -- to declare right away the sort of thing that might have come naturally to previous generations of liberal Democrats (let alone to a conservative Republican): that "Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory." Beyond the matter of experience, beyond how thoroughly the two candidates had thought through the situation, the difference highlighted how Obama still lacks a comprehensive vision of international politics.
You're kidding, right? McCain's decision to ratchet up belligerent rhetoric would have been a terrible decision if he were president, and was silly even as a presidential candidate, especially since he knows -- or should know -- that the U.S. has no real ability to check Russia in the region. And Wilentz knows -- or should know -- that Obama's foreign-policy ideas have been well reported. Wilentz can pretend his lament is liberal, but he should at least do his background reading.
--Tim Fernholz
