How’s a Person Who Cares About Foreign Policy Supposed to Vote Next November?

As I have written before, foreign policy may be the most important issue for me in November 2020 and it’s hard to know what to do.  Donald Trump is unacceptable.  The list of reasons why would go on for a long time, so I’ll just list one of the most recent: he apparently needed John Bolton to stop him from inviting Taliban leaders to Camp David just before the anniversary of 9/11.  But I had decided I wouldn’t vote for President Trump long before that, so while it is appalling, it doesn’t affect my decision.

The question is whether any of the Democrats are just barely acceptable.  Joe Biden is supposedly the most moderate, but former Defense Secretary¹ Robert Gates, who I respect, said of former Vice President Biden, in 2014: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”²  In other words, just because you are “moderate” doesn’t mean you can’t still be wrong.³

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend said, in the Democratic presidential hopefuls debate on Thursday night, that the United States started the war in Afghanistan.  After saying we could make sure Afghanistan will not be used as a base to attack America without keeping ground troops there for a long time, Mayor Buttigieg said: “If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Afghanistan, from Afghanistan, it’s that the best way not to be caught up in endless war is to avoid starting one in the first place.”  I suppose you might be able to say that we started the war in Afghanistan because, when the Taliban refused to turn over Al Qaeda leaders to us after 9/11, we attacked Afghanistan to get them.  I wouldn’t consider that “starting” the war, but maybe the Democratic base does.

And “Mayor Pete” is not, as far as I know, among the worst of the Democrats on foreign policy.  The problem for the Democratic candidates is that the base has moved so far left, on both domestic policy and foreign policy, that the candidates have to move left, too – or at least they think they have to.  Except, of course, for Senator Bernie Sanders, who was already over there to begin with. 

It is possible that the eventual Democratic nominee might, depending on who she or he is, move back a little from left-ville after the convention, but the base isn’t going to let them move too far.  Which means, if a rational foreign policy matters to you, you have to try to figure out whether the Democratic nominee (i) really means what she or he is saying on foreign policy or (ii) is just saying stuff for the campaign and will get rational once they are elected.  In other words, in order to vote for the Democrat,⁴ you will have to try to figure out if they are lying – and only vote for them if you think they are.  Sigh.
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¹ And former lots of other things, too.
² Mr. Gates reaffirmed this view on “Face the Nation” in May of this year.  In the interview, Mr. Gates seemed to feel bad about saying it, because he likes former Vice President Biden as a person, but Mr. Gates is too honest to lie.
³ Also, who knows what former Vice President Biden believes anymore.  We know what he has said in the past, but how that fits with what he says now is unclear.  Obviously, a person’s views can change over time as facts change, but in former Vice President Biden’s case, you sort of wonder if it is more a matter of his views changing because those of the Democratic base have changed.
⁴ As opposed to not voting for president at all.