Reply #101: Freddie, Obama won on hope, youth, diplomacy and the economy, stupid

[Mithreal]

It was not a mandate for the AfPak. Maybe it was clear to everyone that Obama would increase and continue to heavily rely upon mercenaries, and maybe they all knew he would allow Blackwater and others to fight in Pakistan, but maybe they didn't. I for one was more worried about whether the Republicans would steal another election than whether we could have an honest policy debate about Afghanistan or anything else.

When I was handing out campaign literature door to door for Obama, I don't remember any of it explaining what was going on with Afghanistan. The complexities of Afghanistan were minimized during the campaign and we focused on the economy and McCain's weaknesses.

Hope was the bigger message, and youth was nearly as important. Also diplomacy, there were stark differences between Bomb, bomb Iran McCain and statesman Obama.

Not having any difference in policy on a particular topic takes it out of the debate if everyone agrees, even if it is a cynical ploy to control the issues being debated.

No one fought over the Afghanistan debate and I think you may have drawn the wrong conclusions from that.