Matt Yglesias has been on a kick lately of accusing the
Brookings Institution in general, and Michael O'Hanlon in
particular, of being insufficiently dovish. The other day he
mocked an Opportunity08 panel featuring
policy advisors to Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, and John McCain:
Hawkish Democrat on the left, conservative Republican
on the right, and another conservative Republican in the center.
Sounds great. Michael O'Hanlon, naturally, will
moderate.
I just attended this panel, and afterwards I spoke to O'Hanlon and
confirmed a rather salient fact:
All of the major candidates
were invited to send representatives.
Obviously, the Democratic frontrunners declined the invitation
because they have a vested interest in not putting their foreign
policy advisors on a public stage -- any utterance more moderate
than "cut and run yesterday" would invite a political attack from
the left. That's not O'Hanlon's fault, though.
topics:
John McCain, Joe Biden
