For those Republican sympathizers who fear that Senator McCain is shaping up as the George H.W. Bush of this election — elderly war hero with little private-sector experience or interest in domestic policy — well, relax. Another candidate is stepping forward to embrace the legacy of the first President Bush. That candidate is Senator Obama, who said in Wednesday night’s presidential debate, “I think that when you look back at George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy, it was a wise foreign policy. In how we executed the Gulf War, how we managed the transition out of the Cold War, I think it’s an example of how we can get bipartisan agreement.”

Here’s the follow up question that did not get asked: Just what aspect of President George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy did you think was “wise,” senator? Was it the part where Saddam Hussein was left in power after the Gulf War to preside over the mass murder of Iraqi Shiites? The part where the secretary of state, James Baker, told Mr. Bush, “F— the Jews, they don’t vote for us anyway,” and proceeded to conduct a foreign policy toward Israel along those lines? Or the part where Mr. Bush went to Ukraine and counseled the Soviet Republics not to break away from Moscow because it would be too destabilizing?