Talking heads of the media have generally given Sen. John McCain kudos on his statements on the Russian invasion of Georgia. There's a few left-wing pundits attacking McCain as being "too bellicose" in his comments.
However, McCain's experience in foreign policy paid dividends in his statements of placing the blame on Russia and calling for an alliance of democracies to deal with matters such as this where the UN is ineffective.
Obama's initial comments of having both sides "show restraint" and calls for a UN resolution showed his inexperience. Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, an Obama supporter, also called for a UN resolution. Richardson was UN Ambassador under Bill Clinton and should have known better as Russia has veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
McCain and Obama have spoken directly with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Obama called on Saturday and McCain called as recently as Tuesday, which he recounted to supporters at a town hall that afternoon: “I told him I know I speak for every American when I say to him today we are all Georgians.”
Adding to McCain's fortunes on his handling of this crisis, Mikhail Saakashvili quoted McCain's "we are all Georgians" in an address to the nation. Obama wasn't mentioned. McCain has been to Georgia several times and personally knows Saakashvili.
Adding to Obama's woes, some of his supporters have been making "moral equivalency" noises on Russia's invasion with the U.S. war in Iraq.
No matter how this crisis is resolved, the differences in handling by McCain and Obama will be a major issue during the general election campaign.
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