Projo Politics Blog

It took awhile, but someone asked the eight Democratic presidential candidates Sunday night about Darfur.

The first half of the CNN debate from New Hampshire featured questions from journalists, and no one asked the field specifically to address the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region.
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But later the questions came from undecided registered voters in the audience, and Jeffrey Turiel, a psychologist at a Nashua high school, noted that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by Sudanese government-sanctioned terror in Darfur, with millions more displaced, and he asked about the role the United States should play in addressing the tragedy.

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As the candidates fielded the question, one topic that came up was the idea, increasingly heard, of a boycott of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as a way of pressuring China, which has major commercial ties with Sudan, to work for a solution.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said that if China doesn't want to get involved, "We say to them, 'Maybe we won't go to the Olympics.'''

But then Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said, "I think that goes too far.'' He said the United States needs to exercise influence on China and other nations. "But the idea that you go in and stop the Olympics from happening I don't think gets you there. I think that's more likely to delay the kind of influence and support China ought to be providing.''

John Edwards disagreed with Dodd. "We should use whatever tools are available to us,'' said the former North Carolina senator.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked candidates to raise their hands if they thought the U.S. should consider boycotting the Beijing Olympics. Two who didn't raise their hands: New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

The Republican candidates debate on CNN at 7 p.m. tomorrow, June 5.

Comments

Gary St. Peter said:

Yes - someone asked.
And Joe Biden answered - with passion.
But you don't mention his name.
A threatened boycott of the Beijing Olympics?
We need to do something in Darfur - NOW.

Link | June 5, 2007 3:37 AM
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Lynda Durfee said:

The only ones who would be punished by an Olympic boycott would be our hard-working athletes. The Chinese couldn't care less, and the US networks would still carry the broadcast. The Chinese athletes would walk away with the majority of medals as a result. Didn't we learn from the 1980 (US boycott of Moscow) and 1984 (Soviet boycott of Los Angeles) that boycotts don't punish governments, but people?

Link | June 5, 2007 11:59 AM
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