are. the president would say nation building at home more than in places like afghanistan and iraq. and then i think some of the merits, whether it s russia or the others, we need to work with them on some of these issues, like it or not. we have to work with them on places like iran. we can t do it all by ourselves. it s not clear to me either in the foreign policy case or the political case how there s that much space here for republican challenger to come at it in that way. there s a tradition in american politics you blast the sitting president s foreign policy, or at least the administration. kennedy did it in 1960 with basically made up a missile gap out of thin air. and of course, i remember bill clinton in 1992 going after george hw bush for coddling the buchers of beijing. and by the time he was sworn in, bill clinton had a very open relationship with china. but here it just doesn t seem to make political sense. because like you said, the