HOT MIC: Obama More “Flexible” on Security with Russians Post-2012?

This morning news broke that President Obama was caught on a hot microphone during a discussion with outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The two men were meeting to discuss missile defense plans. You can watch the video for yourself below, but President Obama leans in and speaks softly to let Medvedev know that this fall will be his “last election” and that once he wins, he will have more “flexibility” on the issue of missile defense, but until then he needs “space.” Medvedev, in an almost robotic phrasing that I will choose to chalk up to a somewhat weak handle on conversational english, let the President know that he will relay his message to Vladimir, of course referring to incoming dictatorial President Putin. Before I dive into the meat of this issue I just want to get one thing out there.

President Obama has been in office for over three years now. He has literally been to dozens of these international talks both at home and abroad. He is a reasonably smart man. He has a team of advisors and communications staffers around him to properly script his every move.

How on earth did he not know that his mic was hot when he leaned over and whispered into Puppet-President Medvedev’s ear? I would not believe it if the exchange were not caught on video, something the Obama team should have also known would occur at a heavily covered international event on something so important as missile defense. The inept handling of this entire situation literally boggles my mind.

Anyway, this is going to be a gaff that the Obama Administration is likely to have a rough time with, so long as the Republican candidates adequately jump on the issue, and I am sure that they will. If they can jump on a comment about an etch-e-sketch within a few hours, they should be all over this within minutes.

The storyline here is the President playing politics with a crucial national security issue. I am not saying that discussions like this do not happen in private, but what kind of message does this hot mic pick up send to our allies in the former soviet bloc who rely on us for protection from what some of them see as growing hostility from Moscow? All issues include a bit of politicking, but some should not be played in public.

When asked about the comment, the Administration officials essentially confirmed that the President feels he can get nothing done on missile defense in an election year because its “complicated.” Well my question is then, why couldn’t we push this expensive trip to Asia to talk security and missiles and nuclear arms until next year? Why waste the money on some trip that our leaders have already decided can yield no positive results. It is almost as though they are admitting that the entire diplomatic exercise in Asia this week was nothing more than a act, and that the President simply screwed up his lines.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pci4jCzuMd8

Brian McGovern
About Brian McGovern 748 Articles
Brian McGovern wears many hats these days including Voorhees Township GOP Municipal Chairman, South Jersey attorney, and co-owner of the Republican campaign consulting firm Exit 3 Strategies, Inc.

1 Comment

  1. Though no one wants to touch him on it because of Osama Bin Laden, Obama is really vulnerable on foreign policy issues, mainly because of weak positions like this. Hopefully Romney takes him up on this…if he ever locks up this nomination.

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