Barak Obama gets points.

NPR aired a debate between the democrat candidates yesterday, and while what little i listened to was boring and ridiculously unremarkable sloganeering, Barak Obama pulled ahead of the pack for me by a whole bunch with one answer.

Click here to read the transcript of the debate.

The question referenced the idea of foreign policy doctrine - saying that history remembers the Monroe Doctrine, and will likely comment on the idea of the Bush Doctrine - and then asked "what would YOUR doctrine be remembered as?" Most of the candidates took this opportunity to spew out rehearsed lines about NOTBUSH and NEGOTIATE and DOESN'T RULE OUT USE OF FORCE BUT ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION etc - and Obama wiped the floor with the rest of the candidates by saying the following:

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think one of the things about the Obama Doctrine is it's not going to be as doctrinaire as the Bush Doctrine because the world is complicated. And I think part of the problem we've had is that ideology has overridden facts and reality.

Go him.

I don't agree with a lot of his politics, but I have to say it's refreshing to hear a thoughtful answer that provides for nuance in policy that no one else seems to address. The dumbing-down of policy into "don't negotiate with terrorists" and "kill em all" and "negotiate but allow for the use of force" is getting really old.

Would I vote for Obama in an election? I don't know... it's still voting for the machine, you know?