Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks to a crowd of more than 10,000 during a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 1, 2015. (Photo: Juli Hansen / Shutterstock.com)
“Where are Bernie Sanders’ foreign policy advisors?” screams the establishment media in chorus.
Sanders himself provided one important answer: not Henry Kissinger. As Dan Froomkin pointed out at The Intercept, where someone stands on Henry Kissinger tells us a great deal about where they stand on other things.
Foreign Policy provided another answer: several hundred members of the Washington foreign policy establishment are already signed up as “advisors” to the Clinton campaign:
One expert said the system helped ensure loyalty for Clinton by creating “the illusion of inclusion.”
“Even though you’re one of hundreds, you feel like you’re part of the team,” said one prominent think tank scholar.
It’s the type of dynamic that can make an outside expert think twice before tweeting a snarky reaction to a Clinton gaffe or offering a less-than-flattering quote to a reporter. The end goal for many experts is to parlay a stint on an advisory group into a plum job in a future Clinton administration.
Larry Korb provided another answer:
[W]hat matters is not who advises you, but what positions you take. Obama gave his ‘dumb war’ speech about Iraq while he was a state senator, without a cadre of foreign policy advisers…
It is hard to know what challenges the next president might face. That’s why, ultimately, judgment matters more than experience for a potential president. The presidents I have advised – Reagan and Obama, as well as George HW Bush and Secretary of State John Kerry – all showed great judgment in considering, but not bowing to, the advice of the foreign policy establishment…