Obama needs all the help it can get from the Brzezinskis and Nyes of the world to take on McCain

I did a post a couple of days ago encouraging Obama to let his conscience be his guide and not succumb to any part of the Democratic base, whether it be Jewish voters or otherwise.

Today Al Hunt writes in Bloomberg:

One of the smartest Democrats on the issue [of national security] is Harvard Professor Joseph Nye, a former Defense Department official. Nye began this campaign supporting Clinton and then, impressed by Obama's message and depth, switched his allegiance.

Throughout this campaign, Obama has shown an impressive grasp of foreign policy issues and has won the respect of the likes of Nye and Senator Dick Lugar, an Indiana Republican. There are notes of discord: His anti-trade rhetoric is political pandering and not consistent with his record.

And, disturbingly, when pressured by pro-Israeli forces, he distanced himself from Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the party's most prescient foreign policy thinkers. As an establishment figure, Brzezinski provided an important endorsement of Obama during the dog days of last summer and was brought out to campaign for him during the Iowa caucuses.

It would have been both more admirable and advantageous if Obama had said he might disagree with Brzezinski on the Middle East but that he is a valuable adviser.

Instead, he threw him under the bus.

The Obama foreign policy team, headed by Tony Lake, the much-maligned national security adviser during President Bill Clinton's first term, needs all the help it can get from the Brzezinskis and Nyes of the world to take on McCain.