What do the real experts of both parties say

Five former Secretaries of State from both parties told CNN Monday the Bush administration’s hard-line approach on Iran needs to be abandoned by the next president – with one GOP foreign policy heavyweight calling the current White House position "ridiculous."

"I would advise the president to fully engage with Syria," former George H.W. Bush Secretary of State James Baker said at a George Washington University forum co-sponsored by CNN. "I think it's ridiculous for us to say we're not going to talk to Syria, and yet the Israelis have been negotiating peace with them for the last six or eight months."

Considering that Barack Obama has steadfastly favored diplomacy and dialog first, with war as truly a last resort, and that John McCain is fully on board with the Bush doctrine and neocon agenda of bypassing diplomacy in favor of war for economic interests, it's not hard to see how responsible Republicans have a hard time coming to grips with McCain.