United Liberty

John McCain has long had a more confrontational stance towards Russia than President Bush. While being hawkish in some areas and situations of the world is understandable, reckless rhetoric regarding the former Soviet Union is a little frightening to some, as political analyst Bill Ballinger noted to Bloomberg News:

“Anything that tends to focus on foreign policy has to help McCain a little bit,” said Ballenger, publisher of the Lansing-based Inside Michigan Politics newsletter. “That is viewed as his strong point. Polling indicates that’s where he has an edge on Obama.”

The one possible downside for McCain, Ballenger said, is that his “saber-rattling reaction to the Russian incursion may have made some voters’ hair stand on end” and convinced them that “maybe McCain is just a little too strong.”

As a strong Cold Warrior who spent five and a half years in Vietcong captivity, McCain could be coming in with an old mentality. In agreement with what Zbigniew Brzezinski said in a recent interview, we should stand strong in opposition to Russia’s aggression but the last thing we want (or need) is to re-ignite the Cold War. We need to defuse the situation, not escalate it.