President Bush (right) at the White House with Arizona Senator John McCain
According to the latest national polls, Barack Obama is topping the charts six to eight points ahead of his Republican rival John McCain. It is still a long way to the November election and things may easily change, but as matters stand now voters clearly favor the Democratic hopeful. The reasons are many, but several recent rows provoked by McCain's top aides certainly played some role.
For a start America's largest aviation company Boeing lost a hefty contract worth $35 billion to its European rival Airbus for supplying the U.S. Air Force with 179 aerial tankers. It turns out that the team of Airbus lobbyists included several of McCain's key advisors, like Tom Loeffler and Susan Nelson of The Loeffler Group, as well as John Green of Ogilvy Government Relations. Loeffler, a former congressman from Texas, headed the finance committee in the McCain election staff while Green acted as a Congressional liaison. Incidentally, Loeffler has been making some additional money on the side, lobbying for Saudi Arabia, too. Some observers believe that behind-the-scenes activities of McCain himself, who wrote several letters to the Pentagon, helped Airbus win the contract.
Senator McCain's foreign and defense policy aide Randy Scheunemann
Not surprisingly, politicians from Washington State, the home of Boeing, U.S. trade unions, and many other groups raised a mighty stink demanding revision of the Pentagon's decision. How the row will end is still not entirely clear, but McCain's reputation has certainly been badly dented. The thing is that McCain has for years been talking of the need to reform the laws on election campaign financing in order to fight corruption and cramp the style of big business. However, the reality turned out to be quite different.
Then there was a leak in the media to the effect that Randy Scheunemann, McCain's top aide for the foreign affairs and security, had until recently been a lobbyist on the Republic of Georgia's payroll. He and his companion Mike Mitchell were paid over $2 million for lobbying the accession to NATO of several ex-Soviet block republics, including Georgia and Lithuania. As is well known, McCain until recently has been advocating a tougher policy toward Russia. He has used every opportunity to demand Russia's expulsion from the G8; further NATO expansion through the inclusion of Ukraine and Georgia; replacement of the United Nations with a new League of Democracies where Russia, China, and others would not be invited, and so on. Thus McCain as good as called for Russia's isolation and a reversion not just to the Cold War, but to an even more dangerous confrontation.
It is hard to tell how much McCain's utterances were the result of Scheunemann's influence, but a conflict of interest, just as in the case of Boeing and Airbus, is well in evidence. Relations with Russia are extremely important to America's security and that of its European allies; therefore a potential U.S. president cannot afford to have an advisor on the payroll of a state that has a complex relationship with Russia, putting it mildly.
Finally, Charles Black, yet another closest advisor of McCain's, said in an interview that a new terrorist act on U.S. territory would improve his boss's chances in the November election. Naturally, the Obama camp jumped at their rivals' gaffe. His press secretary described Black's statement as "shameful," adding that it was a most eloquent example of the cynical policy "we wish to change."
These three rows and most likely a few other things almost certainly have occasioned the drop in McCain's popularity ratings, since until very recently Obama and McCain were running more or less neck-and-neck.
Being scared by McCain's rhetoric, many Russians are rooting for Obama as the more preferable candidate, but those who think so overlook the fact that because the 46 year old African-American Senator from Illinois lacks experience in international affairs, he is bound to rely on the opinion of his advisors. The more prominent of these are Zbigniew Brzezinski and Madeleine Albright, hardly Russia's best friends.
So the way I see it, the most dignified line Russia might take would be endeavoring to keep out of the U.S. presidential campaign and wait calmly for its outcome while constantly devising and offering various mutually advantageous programs for cooperation between the two countries. These programs should be forwarded through official government channels, U.S. Congress, NGOs, and the press. A country's authority is best built up not by belligerent statements, threats of missile retargeting or mud-slinging matches with ill-wishers, but by steadily and painstakingly furthering cooperation ideas. The latest statements by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suggest that this is precisely the road he has chosen, which is highly gratifying.
Edward Lozansky is President of the American University in Moscow.
Mccain's "tougher" policy stance in concern to Russia is very outdated. The US needs Russia as much as Russia needs the US. The US must accept the fact that Russia is a sovereign Great Power, not under the influence of any other Power. And Russia must accept that it is not the USSR anymore and understand its role in world security. The Cold War rhetoric of both sides is not helpful at all. And John Mccain threatening to boot Russia from the G8, a move that many nations in the group would reject, does not help the situation. Russia must assert itself on the world stage as a Great Power, but only in constructive manners. Taking a responsibility for countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans that remain fragile would be helpful. Using its military resurgence to help bring more security to the South Caucasus and Central Asia would also be helpful, as Russia has assumed the role as the dominant power in the regions. And the US must be careful about NATO expansion. If accepting Georgia and Ukraine risks arousing the Russian Bear and lead to bad long-term effects, then those plans should be scaled back. The US needs Russia to work with it on security, not against it. And an ABM missile shield in Eastern Europe that cannot undermine Russia's nuclear deterrent or prevent hypothetical Iranian nukes from hitting Israel is helpful either. The US must understand that being a World Superpower also means showing restraint if the case may call for it. With great power comes great responsibility. And as John Mccain is concerned, the US will find that it will increasingly require Russia's cooperation as it asserts itself more in its traditional spheres of influence. Particularly in Afghanistan where the NATO front is in threat of collapse, and where Russia has given much logistical support to NATO forces and will continue to do so. So in point, the Cold War style attitudes are going to have to tone down.
Both 2 dimensional candidates who dont really have much difference in policy betweeen them. They are both dictated policies with people of ethnic heritage who have and want to genocide the Russian people.