David Brooks, "Dullest Campaign Ever": That Changed on Sunday

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Dullest Campaign Ever" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/opinion/brooks-dullest-campaign-ever.html), David Brooks contends that this year's US presidential election is "incredibly consequential and incredibly boring all at the same time." Brooks supports this conclusion by alluding to nine characteristics of both candidates' campaigns:

1) emphasis on gaffes.
2) absence of "intellectual innovation."
3) "increased focus on the uninformed."
4) "lack of serious policy proposals."
5) "negative passion."
6) "no enactment strategy."
7) "ad budget myopia."
8) technology to make the campaigns "dumber."
9) numbing dishonesty.

Yes, all this is frustratingly true, yet Brooks ignores something significant that happened on Sunday: Romney declared from Jerusalem that Jerusalem is Israel's capital and also indicated that he would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (see: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-romney-declares-jerusalem-capital-162843104.html).

Note that Obama has refused to visit Israel since becoming president. He has visited nearby Cairo, Riyadh and Istanbul, but has refused to set foot in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. This avoidance by Obama of a trip to Israel is very much in keeping with the observation made by veteran diplomat Aaron David Miller in a recent Foreign Policy article entitled "Warning: Turbulence Ahead" (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/25/warning_turbulence_ahead?page=full), in which the subheading states that Obama is "no Israel-lover," and if Obama is reelected, "expect a major clash with Benjamin Netanyahu."

Also note the recent refusal by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney to state where the capital of Israel is located (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.co.il/2012/07/ap-warm-reception-expected-as-romney.html).

Romney's acknowledgement that Jerusalem is indeed Israel's capital has Obama fuming. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday (http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=279487):

"Well, our view is that that’s a different position than this administration holds. It’s the view of this administration that the capital is something that should be determined in final status negotiations between the parties."

Obama holds to the view that the US should not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital? Did it ever occur to Obama and his foreign policy advisers, including Samantha Power, who advocated sending US troops to protect Palestinians from Israel (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFdt6fjdHQw), that his refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital adds credibility to Arab attacks on Israel's legitimacy?

Those who read this blog know that I have been critical of both candidates' refusal to address the US financial crisis with specific proposals. Here, however, with regard to Israel, a staunch American ally, there can be no mistaking the candidates' forthright positions, which differ in the extreme.