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Huff Post: Kristol at Aipac:
... But partisan concerns seemed to be seeping into several aspects of the pro-Israel group's conference -- so much so that a note of bipartisan calm chimed in from what some might consider an unlikely corner. In an afternoon breakout session featuring Weekly Standard editor (and New York Times op-ed page neocon) Bill Kristol, panelists were repeatedly asked to divine the candidates' views on the Middle East by looking at their respective advisers.
Both Kristol and his Democratic counterpart Ambassador Marc Greenberg were at pains to remind their audience that they weren't official representatives for the candidates. Kristol eventually even found himself in the position of defending Obama's national security bona fides relative to past Democratic candidates. Comparing the policy gulf that separates Obama and McCain to national security differences between the two major parties in past cycles, Kristol told the crowd:
"There are actually no disputes of that nature...with the exception of Iraq this time. Obama's not for cutting the defense budget; Obama's not for pulling troops back from our forward positions around the world, with the exception of Iraq. Obama and McCain don't actually differ, at least on paper, even on Iran, where they're arguing about whether they would talk to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad or not -- and I think that's an important dispute. Still, at the end of the day, Obama doesn't say he would rule out the use of force. McCain certainly is committed as he said this morning to trying to increase economic pressure on Iran, which Obama has also talked about."
Of course there have been differences between the two candidates. Kristol brushed aside perhaps the greatest one: whether or not lowering the bar for diplomatic engagement might prove a tactical benefit for U.S. foreign policy. But beyond that, Obama opposed the recent Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which would have designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. While Obama says he shares that opinion of the group with McCain and others, he instead prefers a less deliberately bellicose approach to international relations.
But given the fact that some Obama opponents seem to believe his views are frighteningly distant from the mainstream, it was interesting to hear someone of Kristol's stature on the right make the case that the Illinois Democrat's differences from McCain are ones of degree and not kind....