The only thing more annoying than Joe Lieberman himself is his conceit, which many people indulge out of habit, that he is some kind of “centrist.” Perhaps if we think of the political spectrum as a series of rings surrounding……

So I won’t challenge your assessment that Kennedy’s overall foreign policy was crap, and his implementation weak. What I think is worth looking at in this comparison to McCain is whether Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missle crisis was comparable to McCain’s handling of Iraq. In both cases, there was an alleged imminent WMD threat to the US. In Kennedy’s case, he waited until he had proof positive of the threat, whereas in McCain’s case, he didn’t. He simply assumed without any real solid evidence that Saddam represented a true, imminent WMD threat. Likewise, Kennedy’s military and civilian advisors (except RFK and a few friends) almost all recommended immediate invasion, rather than a diplomatic solution.For all his faults, Kennedy had the composure and intelligence to reject these plans for an invasion, and instead reached a diplomatic solution that defused the threat. In McCain’s case, he fully supported and was a key player in the advocacy of an immediate invasion, rather than achieving a diplomatic solution. In this respect, his response was the opposite of Kennedy’s, and led to disaster, whereas Kennedy’s measured, diplomatic response that rejected the military invasion of Cuba led to a peaceful standoff that saved hundreds of thousands of lives – maybe many millions – and avoided a terrible quagmire, such as we have in Iraq.

Now, it’s impossible to say whether Kennedy would have avoided the path Johnson took in VIetnam. I think based on his record in Cuba, and the failures he had a part in, that he would not have gone down that road. Although the Diem assassination was not a good sign. The point is, when popular comparisons are made to Kennedy’s foreign policy, they are limited to a few key, iconic decisions, primarily how he handled the CUban Missle Crisis, that have been elevated to legendary status, and in that sense, McCain represents the opposite kind of foreign policy, the invade-first-ask-questions-later approach.