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.

Democratic presidential candidates meet in a nationally televised debate Sunday night, and Republicans on Tuesday, and here's what I'm wondering:

Will anyone ask them about Darfur?

Questions posed on the broadcasts from New Hampshire will come from political journalists and undecided registered voters in the audience. The programs air from 7 p.m. to 9.

You can catch them on CNN.

The Democratic field of eight includes the usuals, among them Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards.

The Republican field will have 10 -- the heavyweights are Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Mitt Romney -- but an 11th prospect, Fred Thompson, is not scheduled to be there. The former Tennessee senator -- more familiar, perhaps, as a star on Law & Order -- is just now moving into the starting gate for the GOP nomination.

I'm curious to know if anyone will ask about Darfur because genocide is an unspeakable outrage. And yet the situation there is complex and grim and, to many in America and around the world, remote. Violence sanctioned by the government of Sudan has killed hundreds of thousands in the country's Darfur region and displaced millions more.

The other day, President Bush announced some modest sanctions designed to increase the pressure on Sudan.

I was discussing them with Rep. Jim Langevin, who wishes Bush would show as much passion in solving this problem as he does about Iraq, and I said I'll be curious to see if anyone asks about Darfur during these two debates.

During the last debate I saw, involving the Republicans, the topic didn't come up, and I told Langevin I find the situation maddening. When I said I'll be surprised if anyone asks the Democrats about it on Sunday or the Republicans about it on Tuesday, Democrat Langevin said, "That would be a shame.''

He also said, "It's frustrating, it's infuriating, that the world community sees what's going on and somehow the international community has not come up with the will to demand an end to genocide.''

Some questions one could ask the would-be presidents:

What are you doing to call attention to Darfur? What should the United States and the United Nations be doing to end the slaughter? What would you think of threatening a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a way of pressuring China, which has strong commercial ties with Sudan, to get more involved? If the butchering is still going on when you become president in January, 2009, what would you do then to halt it?

Yes, I know that if you watch Sunday evening's debate you're going to want to switch over at 8 or so to the Red Sox-Yankees broadcast on ESPN. But you could still tape the debate and scroll through it later.

Whether you watch the Sunday-Tuesday debates live or on your VCR, I'd welcome your views on the quality of the questions, and, of course, the quality of answers.

I'm at mbakst@projo.com