clo, replace the word clear with transient.
As Pres Nixon said at one time when asked about him verus Kennedy and Johnson and Viet Nam and what he would have done ...
Nixon said, in effect, I'm not sure what I would have done, but unlike them, I would have had a choice.
A clear blatant recognition that Democrats have to prove the "toughness" chops everyday, and Republicans can actually do what they think is best.
Obama shouldn't have "surged" Afghanistan, or maybe he should have, but he didn't have a choice. He's a Democrat.