After Paris, Sanders sticks to script — and it doesn’t say much about fighting terrorism
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Version 0 of 1. ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. — The more than 600 people who packed into a historic cabin on this small sea island were treated to the usual rousing — and lengthy — performance by Bernie Sanders. The Democratic presidential hopeful ticked off an expansive agenda for improving the lot of those struggling to get by, touched on climate change and devoted some extra attention to issues of racial justice and policing. But by the time the senator from Vermont had wrapped up his speech, which clocked in at 59 minutes, there was one topic that hadn’t merited a single mention: foreign policy. The omission Sunday was striking, given the marked shift in tone of the presidential race in the week and a half since the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people and injured more than 350. Many of the Republican candidates have recast their pitches altogether, and the other Democrats, including former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, have pushed their plans for defeating the Islamic State to the top of their agendas. The post-Paris-attacks Sanders campaign looks remarkably similar to the pre-Paris-attacks Sanders campaign. During a four-day swing through South Carolina and Georgia that ended Monday, the candidate said little about fighting terrorism unless asked by a journalist or audience member — as happened here shortly after he opened the floor to questions. [In Paris’s wake, a changed presidential contest — and electorate] The pattern has prompted scrutiny of whether Sanders is delivering an expansive-enough message to be considered a credible commander in chief beyond the liberal base of voters he has inspired with his economic pitch. That’s particularly true at a time when Clinton, by far the most experienced candidate on foreign policy, has grown stronger in polls in the early-nominating states. At the same time, Sanders risks calling attention to the disparity if he seeks to engage his rival in her arena. “For any candidate for the party’s nomination, particularly in light of recent events, you have to establish foreign policy credentials,” said Dennis Goldford, a political-science professor at Drake University in Iowa. “Sanders’s comfort zone is economics, but the presidency is not a single-portfolio job.” The contrast was evident Saturday at the Blue Jamboree, a Democratic event in North Charleston, S.C., that drew all three of the party’s presidential candidates to a field ringed by food trucks. Each candidate made a separate appeal under a summerlike sun. Clinton made the case for taking on the Islamic State “on the ground” and on the Internet, where the group’s propaganda thrives. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley called for “fresh thinking” on foreign policy, including better intelligence. Sanders, during his 15 minutes at the lectern, said nothing about the subject. [Clinton ramps up efforts to undercut Sanders with middle-class voters] His most expansive remarks on the aftermath of the Paris attacks came at the end of an hour-long speech last week in Washington explaining “democratic socialism,” the political philosophy that has guided his career and upstart presidential campaign. In an interview Monday, Sanders said, as he did in that speech, that the United States should play a supporting role in a move to destroy the Islamic State but that the primary responsibility should fall to Muslim nations in the Middle East. His view contrasts with those of Clinton and O’Malley, who have said that the United States must lead. “It is absolutely imperative that foreign policy and how we most effectively destroy ISIS become part of the campaign,” Sanders said during the interview, using another name for the Islamic State. “That’s absolutely right. But obviously the fact that the middle class of our country continues to disappear, we have massive levels of wealth and income inequality, and we have a corrupt campaign finance system, that does not disappear because of the ISIS attacks. I will continue talking about those issues as well.” Asked whether he will devote a full speech to foreign policy, as Clinton did last week, Sanders said: “I think we will. We haven’t planned it yet, but I think we will. So the answer is, I believe we will.” [Looking ahead to the general election, Clinton takes hawkish stance on Syria] Even when discussing terrorism, Sanders can take on a populist tone. In response to a questioner here, he singled out two of the wealthiest countries in the Middle East that he said need to be more involved in the fight against terrorism. “Saudi Arabia, which borders on where ISIS is, has the third-largest military budget in the world,” Sanders said. “Maybe instead of just using their defense budget to protect the royal family, maybe they want to use some of that to fight ISIS.” “Yeah!” an audience member shouted out in approval from the overflow crowd that surrounded him on all four sides. Sanders turned next to the “tiny, tiny” country of Qatar, which he noted has been selected to hold soccer’s World Cup in 2022. “Turns out, they have the highest per-capita income in the world,” Sanders said. “Turns out that they are preparing for the World Cup, the soccer tournament, some years out, and what are they going to spend? Two hundred billion dollars on facilities, et cetera, to host the World Cup. How about spending a few billion fighting ISIS?” During interviews at his events, Sanders’s devotees, for the most part, said they think his laserlike focus on domestic issues is appropriate, although some said they found it puzzling that he didn’t bring up an issue that has been dominating the news. “I feel like, because it’s so recent and brought up so frequently now, he should,” said Katie Miller, 16, a high school student from Bluffton, S.C. “Maybe he knew people would ask.” Sarah Todd, a homemaker and Democratic activist who came to see Sanders on Monday night in Atlanta, echoed many of the candidate’s other fans when she said that his focus is understandable. “Truthfully, I think America needs to get its act together before it tells other countries what to do,” Todd said as she left the Fox Theatre, where Sanders received a raucous reception from a crowd of more than 5,000. [Bernie Sanders hangs with rapper Killer Mike as he courts voters in Atlanta] The energy in the room and the widespread appearance of “Bernie for President” signs in the crowd were reminiscent of Sanders’s larger rallies over the summer, a time when he was starting to be seen as a surprising threat to Clinton. Some other crowds during the four-day swing were more modest, particularly in South Carolina, where Sanders is still trying to introduce himself and where Clinton holds a commanding lead in polls. In Atlanta, Sanders was introduced by Killer Mike, a rapper and native of the city. The candidate, who has been trying to make inroads with African American voters in the South, devoted the opening segment of his remarks to the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on issues affecting the working class. In a speech that stretched more than an hour, he made only two brief references to foreign policy issues. First, he said climate change can lead to international strife as nations compete for dwindling resources. Then he said that a country that has struggled with how it treats African Americans should not also tolerate discrimination against Muslims, including those arriving from other nations. The absence of foreign policy from his speeches has been evident since the day after the Paris attacks, during a Democratic candidates’ debate in Des Moines. Goldford, the political scientist, said he found it jarring how quickly Sanders pivoted to other issues during his opening statement during the forum. Clinton and O’Malley focused their full remarks on the developing news and its consequences. Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, said he suspects that Sanders is avoiding talking about foreign policy issues because “it detracts from his standard message, his sweet spot, of talking about income inequality. If the debate starts to be about foreign policy, that’s really playing on Clinton’s turf.” “He’s not going to be able to stay away from it forever,” Smith added. “It’s a major issue.” And if Sanders was to become the party’s nominee, said Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, “it’s a big issue when you get to the general election.” Harpootlian had urged Vice President Biden to run for the White House. But Smith and others suggested that Sanders’s lesser focus on the subject isn’t a liability with his supporters, many of whom prefer his less hawkish positions. Sanders likes to cite his 2002 vote against the war in Iraq, which Clinton, who represented New York in the Senate at the time, supported. She now says that was a mistake. The challenge, though, is whether Sanders can expand his base with that message. “You want to be strong, you want to be forceful, but you want to be smart,” Sanders said in Monday’s interview. “And acting out of revenge, acting out of anger is not necessarily smart public policy. Smart policy is winning. Dumb policy is invading Iraq in 2002, opening up a can of worms and destabilizing the whole area. That’s dumb policy.” Abby Phillip contributed to this report. |