Dodd, Richardson Response to McCain’s Cuba Attacks on Obama

The Page


Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson released the followings statements expressing their opposition to the Bush-McCain Cuba policy outlined today:

“John McCain needs to explain why continuing to do exactly what George Bush has done will somehow produce a different result. The Senator McCain I used to know was open to negotiations with Cuba to lift the embargo, but now he’s taking a hard line position, embracing a policy that has failed the Cuban people and the American people alike for fifty years. Instead of four more years of George Bush’s policy, Barack Obama will help bring liberty to Cuba through direct diplomacy and change that allows for unlimited family visitation and remittances to the island. It’s time to reject a Bush-McCain approach that has isolated us in our own hemisphere, so that we can have renewed American leadership under Barack Obama.” – Senator Chris Dodd

“John McCain doesn’t understand as well as Senator Obama and I do how the Castro regime works. John McCain — like George Bush — is afraid to talk to bad guys. He feels safer pretending to talk tough by hiding from them. Unfortunately ordinary people will pay for his lack of diplomatic skill. This is the Bush-McCain foreign policy that has failed all over the world, and it has failed to promote change in Cuba. I have successfully negotiated with Castro and many like him, and I know that Barack has the judgment and experience to nudge the Cubans toward a better future. He’ll do it without needlessly harming those who just want to send money to their families and visit loved ones. He knows that you need to talk to tough customers so that you can show them that you are tougher than they are. If you want to see real results, you need to do what Barack will do — talk to the bad guys. It’s through direct negotiations that you deliver your toughest message.” – Governor Bill Richardson