Politicizing Death

You knew it was going to happen sooner or later; the political candidates exploiting the untimely death of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for political gain, and the media coverage of the candidates doing so.

The Politico: Bhutto death makes McCain man of the moment
John McCain, older than dirt and with more scars than Frankenstein as he likes to say, suddenly wasn’t looking so bad. >>

Newsweek: From the Department of Silver Linings
"Bad for Bhutto. Good for me."

If there's one line that sums up how yesterday's assassination of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto is "playing" in the U.S. presidential race, that's it. >>

CNN: Conversation shifts from condolences to campaign issue
After expressing condolences and outrage over events in Pakistan, presidential candidates turned their discussion toward whose foreign policy credentials were better. >>

USAToday: Bhutto assassination roils WH race
The assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto pushed terrorism back to the forefront and highlighted the candidacies of presidential hopefuls with long records on national security. >>


You have to wonder if Rudy Giuliani (Mr. 9/11), John McCain (tested in war) and Hillary Clinton (look, another woman took on the world, I can as well) were secretly grateful for this issue playing out so close to the Iowa Caucuses. I am not suggesting that they are happy about the assassination - it's just that the timing of this plays into their perceived strengths while highlighting perceived weaknesses of the leaders (namely, foreign policy experience).

In the next week, as Pakistan works through this problem and tries to uncover what actually happened (and who was responsible), you can bet that this will be the new topic in Iowa (and New Hampshire); let's see if this single event starts a chain of events that leads to wins for Clinton and McCain, not only in Iowa, but beyond.

-RSKnopfJr