Gov. Sarah Palin Meets Kissinger and Heads of State in the City

Gov. Palin met with former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. (Photo: Stan Honda/ AFP-Getty Images, via NY Times)

It doesn’t seem that long ago since anti-war candidate Barack Obama, shamed by the Republicans into traveling to Iraq for the first time, bolstered his negligible foreign policy credentials by a trip abroad last summer. Obama’s handlers, gifted in the art of stagecraft, pulled out all the stops in the Middle East and Europe and have since resorted to such props as a fake presidential seal and Greek pillars to give their man a touch of gravitas.

This week it’s Sarah Palin’s turn to get acquainted with foreign leaders during a visit to New York that has included an extended meeting with Henry Kissinger.

The Boston Globe’s Farah Stockman writes in Political Intel:

“NEW YORK -- Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin threw herself into a crash course in diplomacy at the United Nations today, beginning her first of two days of meetings with foreign leaders.

“The meetings with Palin, who had never met a foreign head of state before and who traveled outside of North America for the first time last year, were designed to bolster her foreign policy credentials and introduce her to close US allies with whom she would work if she became vice president.

“But the carefully orchestrated visits also highlighted the degree to which John McCain's presidential campaign will go to shield the first-term Alaska governor from the press. Until CNN threatened to withdraw its pool camera crew, Palin's aides initially banned reporters, who are traditionally allowed to briefly view private diplomatic meetings that are being photographed, and are sometimes allowed to ask a question.

‘“Palin -- who was escorted by Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy adviser, and Steve Biegun, a former National Security Council member -- met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai today for about a half hour. He said later at the Asia Society, ‘I found her quite a capable woman. She asked the right questions on Afghanistan. She was concerned and she said how can she help, so I'm very pleased with that meeting.’

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