Obama gets high marks for nat’l security issues

Greg Sargent points out an interesting Gallup poll yesterday in which Obama gets higher marks (for the most part) on foreign policy and national security than on domestic issues.

Sargent calls this a “reverse Nixon-to-China sybdrome.” (The conventional wisdom is that it’s easier for hawks to make “dovish” concessions. But Obama is a dove getting high marks for somewhat “dovish” positions, Sargent argues.)

Indeed, it doesn’t look as though Obama’s position on Guantanamo Bay and openness to talks with Iran is hurting him.

But it’s important to note that Obama has shifted adopted (or just slightly modified) some of Bush’s position since taking office, including the “state secrets privilege,” military commissions, habeas corpus, and others. (See here for more on the similarity between Bush and Obama on terrorism issues.)

So I wouldn’t conclude that Obama’s high approval numbers on terror represent a victory for Bush’s main critics.