Rand Paul and Rick Perry are having the most important debate of the 2016 election

Forget the economy. When it comes to electing presidents, foreign policy trumps all.

Paul
(Image credit: (Alex Wong/Getty Images))

Last weekend, Texas Gov. Rick Perry accused Sen. Rand Paul of being too much of an "isolationist." This week, Paul fired back, asking Perry how many American kids should die for an Iraq that Iraqis won't or can't defend themselves.

It's gratifying to see two potential 2016 Republican candidates fighting about foreign policy, because foreign policy is one of the areas where American presidents still have relatively free rein to pursue their own course. That means these barbed speeches and press releases may constitute the most important debate of the nascent 2016 presidential election.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is the founder and editor of The Slurve, a newsletter about baseball. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, ESPN Magazine, Slate and The American Conservative.