White House officials appeared somewhat surprised by the scope of the commission's foreign policy recommendations, which went far beyond the expected recommendations to revamp the intelligence agencies and security measures.
During the call, former aides to Mr. Obama demanded that Mr. Romney offer a detailed set of foreign policy recommendations when he travels to Europe and the Middle East later this week, suggesting that so far, his campaign has dispensed "political platitudes".
As first reported by Foreign Policy, competing recommendations on Sudan are on Mr. Obama's desk, reflecting dissent within the administration.
Since, according to a recent poll, only 6% of Europeans strongly approve of George Bush's handling of foreign policy, that is recommendation enough.But Mr Kerry also has family ties that make him so beguiling to Europeans.
Mr. Kissinger's is the broader book, a series of recommendations on many foreign policy questions, including some related to human rights, especially the effort to create an International Court of Justice to deal with human rights crimes.
Unlike Mr. Holbrooke, who died on the job, Mr. Solarz spent his last few years in semi-retirement, though he kept his hand in global affairs as vice chairman of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based organization that provides in-depth and high-quality analyses and recommendations on major foreign policy issues.
According to the same report in today's Washington Post, Romney acted on the "unanimous recommendation of his foreign policy and political advisers".
Foreign policy, humanitarian aid and development organizations must work to elevate and coordinate the recommendations laid out in "Stabilizing Abyei".
Mark Lippert, a close aide and member of the Obama campaign foreign policy team, is a former Daschle staffer (brought on at Rouse's recommendation).
One email shows that Clinton reached out to Talbott for a recommendation on "another smart, politically savvy assistant, preferably one [with] foreign policy experience expertise".
On this recommendation, Mr Bush needs to insist on his prerogatives as custodian of America's foreign policy and just say no.
