The Democrats on Foreign Policy Outside of Iraq

Wednesday’s show was very disappointing and wholly uncharacteristic for The Exchange and NHPR. Jen Donahue was joining the show as a political observer for a discussion about foreign policy positions of all the Democratic candidates. However, it seemed that she began every comment with “Senator Clinton says…” and I ended each one with the term “electable.” Her comments were so clearly directed at promoting Senator Clinton that she literally turned the show into a political advertisement. At a minimum, her evident support for Senator Clinton should have been acknowledged. Objectivity and balanced commentary were left at the door for this show. When Hillary is continually refered to using terms such as Presidential and elecable, perhaps a follow-up question about national polls showing over 50% of voters would not support Mrs. Clintan in a general election would have helped remind listeners that this primary is far from over. As I canvas through Manchester, I am especially proud of this state when I hear my neighbours acknowledge that their voice and their vote, especially here in New Hampshire matter now more than ever. This is still a democracy; no one deserves to be coronated before a single vote has been cast. The now ten-point spread between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire continues to narrow.
I understand that you are somewhat constrained by the questions your callers ask, but when you were asked who was advising Clinton, Obama, Biden and Richards, the one sided response literally left me speechless. As I listened to Jen enumerate a litany of Hillary advisors, and then go on to intimate that Bidon and Richardson could certainly be among them when she is President, I knew that her lack of objectivity was not just a perception, it was a reality. I am an Obama supporter, but more to the point, so is President Clinton’s former National Security advisor Anthony Lake. In fact, As the New York times reported Sunday, “There are maybe 200 people on the Democratic side who think about foreign policy for a living, as one such figure, himself unaffiliated with a campaign, estimates. “The vast majority have thrown in their lot with Obama.”The Times further noted that “as Ivo Daalder, a former National Security Council official under President Clinton who now heads up a team advising Obama on nonproliferation issues, puts it, “There’s a feeling that this is a guy who’s going to help us transform the way America deals with the world.” The Exchange is generally so good at framing the big picture; perhaps this program was just an aberration. The stakes are too high, your responsibility is great, and I am counting on you lead by example, as you generally do.