Whither Foreign Policy at the Debate? – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

Whither Foreign Policy at the Debate?

Daniel J. Flynn
by
GOP presidential candidates at second primary debate, Sept. 27, 2023 (MSNBC/YouTube)

The same conservatives who condemn Washington for unconstitutionally funding education beseech it to send billions to a country at war 5,000 miles away. Where in the Constitution does it sanction this?

It seems fewer rank-and-file conservatives endorse the idea of the federal government funding other governments than did a decade ago. But on the stage last night, five Republicans endorsed funding the war in Ukraine and just two talked about the need to end our involvement in a war so far away from home.

This line of questioning allowed voters to see which candidates embrace the Team America: World Police approach to foreign affairs and which candidates — Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis — embrace a foreign policy based on what serves our just national interests.

Many conservatives differ on the question and nuance characterizes many opinions. But the folks on that stage, and at the table asking questions, appeared out of step with the general position of most Republican primary voters.

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READ MORE from Daniel J. Flynn:

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Daniel J. Flynn
Daniel J. Flynn
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Daniel J. Flynn, a senior editor of The American Spectator, serves as a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution for the 2024-2025 academic year. His books include Cult City: Harvey Milk, Jim Jones, and 10 Days That Shook San Francisco (ISI Books, 2018), Blue Collar Intellectuals: When the Enlightened and the Everyman Elevated America (ISI Books, 2011), A Conservative History of the American Left (Crown Forum, 2008), and Intellectual Morons: How Ideology Makes Smart People Fall for Stupid Ideas (Crown Forum, 2004). In 2025, he releases his magnum opus, The Man Who Invented Conservatism: The Unlikely Life of Frank S. Meyer. He splits time between city Massachusetts and cabin Vermont.  
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