Just last week I wrote in an op-ed in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that "The less a candidate has sound mooring for his policies the more apt is he to manipulate us by invoking our cherished symbols and comforting slogans.    Those who promise that they will keep 'Jerusalem as the eternal united capital of Israel,' or pulverize 'Ahmadinejad's nuclear sites' may be telling us what we want to hear, but not what we can sustain in the world in which we must live."  And I explained why such threats and promises are folly. 

The ink wasn't dry before Senator Hillary Clinton promised in the Democratic debate in Philadelphia that she "would make it clear to the Iranians that an attack on Israel would incur massive retaliation from the United States, but I would do the same with other countries in the region."    In one fell swoop, she had unequivocally committed the U.S. to wage full-scale war against Iran on behalf not only of Israel but of all our Mideast Arab allies should Iran attack any of these nations.   Nor was she limiting the conditions under which this threat would be realized to an unconventional attack (with nuclear or other WMD's).  Any attack would do to embroil the US in a "massive" military campaign against Iran.   Nor was she limiting the countries against whom an Iranian attack would trigger an automatic large-scale US counter-attack.    Not just Israel.  Any Mideastern country would do to get us good and mired neck deep in another full-scale war in the Middle East. 

Senator Clinton's gonzo "deterrence" looked like nothing so much as an attempt to turn the Democratic primary into little more than a Billy Crystal Saturday Night Live Skit:  Qui est muy macho?  Fernando Lamas or Ricardo Montalban?  Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama?   

When a former aide to conservative icon President Ronald Reagan can make a cogent case against a politician's uber-hawk panaceas, it's a sure sign that a politico is playing to the crowd's reptilian instincts.  That, of course, means that the intent is to get us to stop thinking and reading and to cast our ballot with our fists clenched for the toughest talking "mofo"--man or woman. 

Senator Obama's measured, thoughtful and responsible but strong reply to the same question was downright, well, presidential, compared to Senator Clinton's.  Obama responded in part:   "I think it is very important that Iran understands that an attack on Israel is an attack on our strongest ally in the region, one that we -- one whose security we consider paramount, and that -- that would be an act of aggression that we -- that I would -- consider an attack that is unacceptable, and the United States would take appropriate action."  

Effective deterrence, in short, does not bluster about with extravagant promises or threats that are unlikely to be fulfilled, undermining a leader's--and America's--credibility.  Nor should deterrence tie American hands to a single response on a scale that is just half-cocked enough to scare some voters into the voting booth chanting your mantra--or to be acted upon, with all the frightful consequences.  Sen. Obama made clear that he will exercise his judgment, and that of his military and political advisors, to determine what the proper response to any Iranian attack should be, including a range of forceful responses which do not commit the US in advance to far-reaching reckless military escapades.   As I wrote last week in JTA, what we need now is a sober strategy and a cool hand. 

In this issue, the strengths of Sen. Obama's approach to Israel and the Middle East become even more apparent.   They are highlighted in a revealing exchange with the Philadelphia Jewish leadership, as well as in the passionate yet thoughtful endorsements he receives from Jewish Pennsylvania legislators and Members of Congress, from Clinton's former Labor Secretary Robert Reich to Pennsylvania Jewish Democrats like David Broida.    Los Angeles Jewish leader Glenn Gottlieb delivers a striking critique of the demagoguery and character assassination that passes for politics in our country far too much of the time.   His talk, a d'var Torah delivered recently at an American Jewish University retreat, is published here for the first time.  If you live in a primary state, be sure to get out and vote today.   And do the right thing!

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