Time to add to the list of what we thought we would never see in this turned-upside-down presidential campaign: Real estate mogul Donald Trump parachuting into the belly of the beast, delivering a serious foreign policy speech in Washington, D.C.
What's most newsworthy about this campaign moment is what says about the place of foreign and defense policy in the race for the corner office at 1600 Pennsylvania.
As perplexed as many are at the candidates still standing, what is even more surprising is the issues they are talking about. After bagging five more primary wins, and having the choice of what to do next wide open, Trump makes arguably the most full-throated foreign affairs address of his time on the campaign trail.
His speech reflects the new reality of presidential politics. What is going on in the world matters to American voters.
This isn't 2008, when Barack Obama and John McCain sounded so much the same on these issues. In fact, if the attribution were redacted, voters would have had a hard time picking who said what. Most Americans didn't care. After the pain of Iraq and Afghanistan and getting sledgehammered in the recession, they just wanted to think about something else.
This isn't 2012. Obama's foreign policy was already an embarrassment. Nobody cared. When Mitt Romney pointed out Vladimir Putin's Russia was becoming a problem, Obama joked about it.
This is 2016. Russia has scared half of Europe witless. China is chipping away at America's status as an Asian power. The Middle East is meltdown. Terrorists are shooting Americans down like dogs in American cities. And Americans have had it.
No sane candidate would run for election fist-pumping for eight more years of Obama's foreign policy. They want change they can believe in.
They may not want more wars, but they certainly want a military that can defend them better than a rusty bucket. There are slum lords who can be prouder how they take care of their tenants than Obama's stewardship of the armed forces.
Allies want stronger alliances. Our friends around the world want us to be friendlier. Any candidate that doesn't get that isn't listening to the American people.
To claim America's heart on this issue, those who want to occupy the Oval Office are going to have to show some heart. What sways voters on foreign policy is less a candidate's policy promises during the campaign than demonstrating the competence and character to be the commander in-chief.
Convincing Americans that their safety and security was a candidate’s top priority might not have mattered much in 2008 or 2012. In 2016? It matters. A lot.
