The Tiny Office Writing the Future of America

The Huffington Post has a piece entitled "The Future of America is Being Written in This Tiny Office," which highlights the work of the Hillary Clinton campaign's Brooklyn headquarters office, a team that is collecting and synthesizing all the pro-Clinton think tank policy papers into actual policy as she strives to become the next US president.

Here is an excerpt:

This summer, I stopped by Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters, where the policy team occupies prime real estate. The three senior advisors—Jake Sullivan, Maya Harris and Jacob Leibenluft—share an office steps away from those of campaign manager Robby Mook and chairman John Podesta. (O’Leary is now leading the official transition operation in Washington.) About a dozen more policy aides occupy nearby cubicles, below a sign that says “Nerds” and “Wonks for the Win.” This team manages more than 30 outside working groups that include academic heavyweights, think tank experts and trusted advisers like Sperling and Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress. It’s an impressive crew, but perhaps over-qualified when it comes to some of the matters that have convulsed this particular election, like the size of Trump’s hands or the semiotics of Pepe the Frog. “It’s not exactly clear what to do with all of that horsepower,” says a person familiar with the process. “There is just this mismatch between capabilities they have and what’s actually required in this campaign.”

Among the think tanks that are heavily advising Mrs. Clinton are Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Roosevelt Institute (as we recently wrote about here).

Think Tankers Jockeying for Key Posts in Clinton Administration

Scholars at some of Washington, DC's top think tanks are jockeying for attention and power as they vie for  key posts in a possible Hillary Clinton Administration.

Reporting from Politico shows that a number of high-level think tankers are in the running for key posts within a Clinton Administration.  Examples include:

• Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress (CAP), will likely be some type of "senior adviser" to Mrs. Clinton, and possibly the domestic policy adviser.
• William Burns, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, could be the next secretary of state.
• Wendy Sherman, a non-resident Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, is also in the running for secretary of state.
• Nick Burns, who is on the Board of Directors at Harvard's Belfer Center, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and Atlantic Council, is another possibility for secretary of state.
• Strobe Talbott, President of the Brookings Institution, is also being talked about as a possible secretary of state.
• Kurt Campbell, Co-founder and former CEO of Center for a New American Security (CNAS), could also become secretary of state.
• Michele Flournoy, Co-founder and CEO of CNAS is a possible secretary of defense.
• Lael Brainard, formerly at Brookings, is a possibility for treasury secretary.
• John Podesta, Co-founder of the Center for American Progress (CAP), could possibly become the next energy secretary.

In related news, Think Tank Watch has just reported that scholars from the Roosevelt Institute are drafting a list of key people that want in a Clinton Administration.