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The Obama campaign released the lineup of their "National Security Working Group" today, and it's not an incredibly exciting group of people. The participants are:
Secretary of State Madeleine AlbrightSenator David Boren, former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on IntelligenceSecretary of State Warren ChristopherGreg Craig, former director of the State Department Office of Policy PlanningSecretary of the Navy Richard DanzigRepresentative Lee Hamilton, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs CommitteeDeputy Attorney General Eric HolderDr. Tony Lake, former National Security AdvisorSenator Sam Nunn, former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.Secretary of Defense William PerryDr. Susan Rice, former Assistant Secretary of StateRepresentative Tim Roemer, 9/11 CommissionerJim Steinberg, former Deputy National Security AdvisorA friend who follows this stuff closely e-mails:
I'm not that psyched about this list. Not that any of this is particularly surprising in the grand scheme of things, but it's a lot of old white conservative dudes. For Obama specifically, though, that's kind of disappointing -- e.g., no Sam Power, no Anne-Marie Slaughter, and no Sarah Sewall, any (or a combination) of whom would have been a nice addition to the 11 men and 2 women on the current list. Nor did Brzezezezezinski make the cut; I wonder if his "raving anti-Semite" label caused problems, or if he's really just not actually that involved in the campaign? Of course, it is nice to see Rice/Lake rather than, say, Holbrooke/Berger. And the inclusion of Albright has got to be considered yet another olive branch to Clinton and/or her supporters right? The weirdest inclusion, though, is Boren, whose Congressman son recently said he wouldn't endorse Obama because he's too liberal.I basically agree with that. Notable absences include Brzezinski, Samantha Power, Rob Malley, Ben Rhodes, Lee Hamilton, and others who existed on the interesting left edge of the Obama foreign policy universe. These working groups aren't necessarily that important, and it's not hard to figure out why the Obama campaign didn't want to explain Malley's inclusion to hardline Jewish groups, but it's disappointing. Nothing personal, but Madeleine Albright is not "change we can believe in."Welcome to the general, I guess.Update: Matt notes an omission from the other direction: Richard Holbrooke.
