"Democrats" Spar In The WSJ

The Wall Street Journal has pitted former Democratic vice presidential candidate (turned independent in order to retain his seat in the Senate) Joe Lieberman (D-CT) against Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), who was amongst the pack for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. At the center of their argument: what path is today's Democratic Party following?

Lieberman asserts that the Democratic party has abandoned the principles of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy ... and claims that, instead, President Bush has picked up this mantle, when he says that the "parties have changed positions."

Lieberman, who supports Sen. John McCain's (D-AZ) candidacy, criticizes Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) for proposing to meet with Cuba's Castro and other "leaders of the most vicious, anti-American regimes on the planet." As an aside, two years ago Lieberman sought out Obama's support in his 2006 contest with Ned Lamont (a contest that Lieberman lost).

On the other hand, Biden insists that the policies of our current president and those proposed by McCain are far removed from the Republican policies enacted by Reagan and Bush the Elder.

He believes that our current "obsession" with the "war on terror" has blinded us to our position on the world stage, one that could by eclipse by the rising economics of China, India and even Russia. I believe that it has also blinded us to two of the most pressing problems facing the world: reliance on petrochemicals to stoke the engine of the global economy and clear evidence of global climate change.

On George Bush's watch, Iran, not freedom, has been on the march: Iran is much closer to the bomb; its influence in Iraq is expanding; its terrorist proxy Hezbollah is ascendant in Lebanon and that country is on the brink of civil war.

Beyond Iran, al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan – the people who actually attacked us on 9/11 – are stronger now than at any time since 9/11. Radical recruitment is on the rise. Hamas controls Gaza and launches rockets at Israel every day. Some 140,000 American troops remain stuck in Iraq with no end in sight.

Neither Senator acknowledges the role Congress (ie, each of them) has played in getting America to the point where we are today. Among other things, this includes a growing national debt, a shrinking dollar, and rising inflation. All are indirectly related to foreign policy, although they are historically considered "domestic" issues.

Both Biden and Lieberman present the 2008 election as a clear choice in foreign relations: one of diplomacy versus one of might. Which do you chose?