The Bhutto assassination has already prompted reaction from most of the candidates. Not surprisingly, the statement by Mike Huckabee has drawn the most criticism. Here’s CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes:
To which Ambinder responds:
Indeed, observers have tied Huckabee’s rise to “Iraq’s slide” off the front pages, and while the situation in Iraq continues to improve (casualties this month are likely to be the second lowest since the start of the war), the rapidly deteriorating situation in Pakistan once again moves foreign policy issues to the fore. If tomorrow’s funeral is followed by rioting and more violence, Pakistan may stay on the front pages, and one has to assume that the beneficiary would be McCain. Or at least that’s the thinking at Red State, where Erik asks, “In light of recent troubles in Asia, compounded by a growing threat from China, and pending civil war (it seems) in Pakistan after the tragic assassination of Benazir Bhutto, does America need John McCain as President?” Perhaps all this blows over in a few days (obviously not in Pakistan, but as a concern of the voters in the early primary states), and people return to the issues that have dominated the campaign up to this point. But as McCain surges, momentum begets momentum–and he is the only candidate who can say that he knows Musharraf well, that he knew Bhutto, that he has been to Waziristan, and that he has the foreign policy experience to deal with these issues. And while some candidates are petulantly calling for Musharraf to resign, and others are putting out slightly bizarre statements, McCain has offered a measured and sensible response.
