Rare News Desk
Author Jacob Heilbrunn speculated in a New York Times op-ed Sunday that neoconservatives may rally around Hillary Clinton if she runs for president in 2016 and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is her opponent.
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Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest magazine and author of “They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons,” said that recent praise of Clinton by leading neocons like Robert Kagan — who prefers to be called a “liberal interventionist” instead — could be a sign of broader support.
Heilbrunn writes:
[T]he neocons’ latest change in tack is not just about intellectual affinity. Their longtime home, the Republican Party, where presidents and candidates from Reagan to Senator John McCain of Arizona supported large militaries and aggressive foreign policies, may well nominate for president Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has been beating an ever louder drum against American involvement abroad.
In response, Mark Salter, a former chief of staff to Senator McCain and a neocon fellow traveler, said that in the event of a Paul nomination, “Republican voters seriously concerned with national security would have no responsible recourse” but to support Mrs. Clinton for the presidency.
Sen. John McCain, a textbook hawk, has more than hinted that he might prefer Hillary Clinton over Rand Paul. When asked in 2013 who he’d support if it came down to Clinton-Paul, McCain answered, laughing: “It’s gonna be a tough choice.”
McCain seemed to back-step a few paces, however, after making this comment, perhaps realizing that it could enrage the Republican base in the same way that he did when he called Sens. Paul and Cruz “wacko birds.”
“Let me just clarify that I think that Rand Paul represents a segment of the GOP, just like his father. And I think he is trying to expand that, intelligently, to make it larger,” he said.
Heilbrunn listed reasons neoconservatives have an affinity for Clinton:
[T]he thing is, these neocons have a point. Mrs. Clinton voted for the Iraq war; supported sending arms to Syrian rebels; likened Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, to Adolf Hitler; wholeheartedly backs Israel; and stresses the importance of promoting democracy. It’s easy to imagine Mrs. Clinton’s making room for the neocons in her administration.
NSA-breaking journalist Glenn Greenwald strongly agrees.
Is Hillary Clinton the second coming of George W. Bush?
You might think liberals would worry that Clinton is increasingly respected by these characteristically hawkish Republicans, but it doesn’t. Most liberals stand firmly behind her.
Clinton has also not necessarily been on the same page as President Obama on foreign policy.
Author H.A. Goodman wrote an article for the Huffington Post a week ago titled “President Hillary Clinton Would Be Far More Conservative Than You Think” that also highlighted the significant Clinton-neocon connection.
Despite the hawkish desires of neoconservatives and possible presidential candidate Clinton, currently a majority of Americans support a more restrained foreign policy.
