Kander even went so far as to call Clinton “the most qualified person ever to run for president other than George Washington.”
Why did Kander take his pandering to the next level when Clinton came to town? Probably because his liberal national security record is nearly identical to the reckless policies embraced by Clinton.
Clinton called for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. And Kander? He went on the record as a state legislator in opposition to efforts to prevent the facility’s closure and the transport of suspected terrorists to the United States.
- “Kander was one of 36 state House members who opposed a resolution urging Congress to keep prisoners from Guantanamo out of Missouri…The 2009 resolution, which easily passed the Legislature, urged Congress to ‘reject any act of asylum, containment, transport, imprisonment, or medical care in regard to suspected terrorists from any United States operated foreign prison present within the State of Missouri.’” (Kevin McDermott and Chuck Raasch, “Missouri Senate Candidate Kander Breaks With Obama Over Guantanamo Bay Closure,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/23/16)
His signaled support for closing Gitmo and bringing terrorists to U.S. soil is just part of a long line of radical national security proposals demonstrating how out-of-touch Kander really is. Kander even once said the United States should fight the threat of radical terrorism through…the Peace Corps. Yes, the Peace Corps.
As a progressive, my beef with President Bush isn’t that he’s fighting a war, it’s that he’s doing it wrong. I want to win every bit as badly as he does, if not more, but I believe that means the symbol of America can’t just be a soldier with an M-16. It must also be a peace corp volunteer armed with the knowledge to improve crop yields, an American diplomat holding court on the rule of law, and a doctor curing the sick in a village clinic… Young men with good jobs, food on the table, and subsequent honor in their homes do not become terrorists, let alone suicide bombers.
Surely this won’t be the last time Kander panders in high gear to Clinton and other high-powered Democrats. But at least we know his heart is in it.