Um, no, its not.
I think ya got the concept a little off. Shadow government (I really do hate that name) would be better termed mirror government (but thats not the name used).
Its simple, Candidate A has someone who would be his AG, his AG actually goes on TV, and everyone knows this guy will be AG if the candidate A wins, Candidate B does the same thing, with their own guy as the wannabe AG.
It would like John Kerry using Gephardt as a designated Secretary of Labor, everyone knows he would be named, and Gephardt campaigns (to some extent) for Kerry and himself, against whomever the incumbent labor sec is or would be (whom would also be designated).
Think Tanks do nothing even remotely like that. Thats why they are think tanks and not shadow govs.
A “shadow government” is any un-elected body operating from outside of the elected body, with the purpose of directly calling the official policy shots from the dark closet.
“Government” establishes government policy. “Shadow” governments work in the dark secrecy of the “shadows” behind the visible government to affect those policies, hence the name “shadow government”.
It’s much like the puppeteer who pulls the strings of the puppet from behind the curtain, in the shadows, unseen, but very much in control.
In the case of an organization like CFR, they operate openly in the light. It’s only when one comes to realize exactly how much power they have to influence official policy that they begin to look like an un-elected “shadow government”.
Your relative point is what?