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TPM founder quoted as source for Obama Chief of Staff pick scoop
Howard Fineman, speaking on MSNBC, quoted Josh Marshall as a source in announcing that Rahm Emmanuel was offered, and accepted, the job as Chief of Staff in President-Elect Obama's Adminstration.
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Heard that and thought that Rahm's trajectory has certainly been publicized all along the way to this position.
Obama doesn't appreciate leakers so to do so seems counterproductive.....and indicative.
Obama would do better to entrust Tom Daschle.
November 5, 2008 2:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Rahm Emmanuel is a horrible choice. The dude led the DLC dems and was just piss-poor during the campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if his Chief of Staff is a woman. A republican woman would be master stroke.
November 5, 2008 8:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
TPMCafe had a lot of DLC and ex-DLC contributors when it started up. And even before that, when I visited TPM, I always got the sense Josh Marshall was pretty well connected in DLC circles.
That said, I read somewhere that Emmanuel was the probable pick a few days ago, so I really don't think of this as a big "scoop."
November 5, 2008 9:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
The pick of Emmanuel was also posted on MSNBC earlier on election day.
The "scoop" was the fact that Fineman credited Marshall with confirming the acceptance of the post, not the offer.
November 5, 2008 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hear Libby Dole might be looking for a job soon! (ducking...)
November 5, 2008 9:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Darn it. I like Daschle.
So, will Obama's Chief of Staff be more the Andy Card type or the Jim Baker type? How much power will this person be given?
November 5, 2008 8:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
And will he let Obama go on Colbert? ;^)
November 5, 2008 9:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
And so it begins, the bloom was already off the rose in blogistan last night before his speech:
Jane Hamsher (queen of Firedoglake.com,) posting at The Nation
11/04/2008 @ 7:47pm, on "How Would Obama Govern?" and the Rahm Emmanuel possibility.
November 5, 2008 9:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm glad you posted that link. Thanks.
November 5, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great find. This is precisely why I think any Rahm Emmanuel talk is premature at best.
November 5, 2008 10:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
From my perspective and goals of radically changing our FP in the ME, the bloom faded long ago.
Although the kvetching from FL is mainly directed at the notion of kneecapper Rahm dealing with Congress, my concern is that gatekeeper Rahm will control access to Obama and ensure that those with realist ideas of dealing with the ME are kept out of the information loop.
Thanks to enthusiastic posters on the Cafe (emet18/a(i)pacmember) boasting about their agendas and powerplays, the accounts of the war over which FP advisors would be allowed to have Obama's ear reinforced the importance of controlling information that reaches the president.
According to a(i)pacmember, appointments to the National Security Council and the DoS are also high on their agenda for the Obama administration.
November 5, 2008 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
lally,
Just curious, who would you have been happy with on that front as a presidential candidate? I happen to think there has to be a big re-education of the American public at large before there could be someone taking even a isolationist stance towards IP that would get majority approval, that could be a realistic candidate. Don't get me wrong, I think there's a significant- sized minority that doesn't like what we do with that situation, but electorally, let's be realistic, it's not just AIPAC that has pro-Israel sympathies, it's a little bigger than that.
November 5, 2008 4:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
aa.
"who would you have been happy with on that front as a presidential candidate"
No one. Obama is still the best bet which is why I stress the access issue all of the damn time.
I've been looking at our FP for years now and much of my larning has come from Israeli sources from all ends of the political spectrum. One gets a much more honest picture from their POV. Israelis with realistic assesments of security and talking to Hamas are not given access at the highest levels of our government. That's not by accident or oversight, it's by design.
If Alon Liel, Ephraim Halevy or Olmert's negotiator with the Syrians in Turkey get Obama's ear, I will happy to be proven to be overly paranoid.
Don't be fooled by what you are sold in our MSM in regards to American opinions on the I/P & ME issues as majorities prefer the US acting in an "even handed manner" when asked. In addition, a recent poll revealed that majorities approve of talking to enemies, including Iran and Hezbollah.
These results are entirely consistant with the American values of "fair play" and an "even playing field".
November 5, 2008 6:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
PS
aa, I forgot to mention that I found this observation illuminating:
"TPMCafe had a lot of DLC and ex-DLC contributors when it started up. And even before that, when I visited TPM, I always got the sense Josh Marshall was pretty well connected in DLC circles."
Do tell.....;>}
BTW. Consumate insider and DC gossip Steve Clemons wasn't a Rahm enthusiast:
"Emanuel is interesting -- but the first thought that came to mind when I saw word today that Obama had approached him on the role was "Dick Cheney." Cheney was a Member of the House of Representatives. . .and a Chief of Staff. And both Cheney and Emanuel are addicted to power.
Will Rahm Emanuel help Obama create a more transparent and accountable White House -- or will he propogate secrecy?...."
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/10/thoughts_on_rah/#comments
November 5, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
This may not be fair to Emanuel, but his father was a member of Irgun, the Israeli terrorist organization that fought the British. His appointment would just play right into the hands of the rightwing wingnuts who were already all pumped up about Obama's ties to terrorists (and it won't make any difference that he was an Israeli, not Arab terrorist, just the word "terrorist," associated with Obama's first appointment would do the trick).
It would create a horrible distraction at a time when Obama just can't risk expending the energy and resources on a non-critical issue. Obama needs to hit the ground running, and an Emanuel appointment could interfere with his ability to do that.
November 5, 2008 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wordie. Rahm also went to Israel to serve in a sort of civilian auxilliary of the IDF during the Gulf War.
November 5, 2008 6:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I saw Fineman credit an email from Josh and gush about his reputation, so I loaded-up the mainpage (something that I rarely do because they don't take comments) and imagine my surprise, when this "revelation" had been reported on television, but not on the pages of Josh's blog.
November 5, 2008 11:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
ditto
November 5, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Some additional reaction on this in DanK's blog entry...
November 5, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
tanx for the cross post, I mighta missed it.
November 5, 2008 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was poleaxed when I woke up to read that Obama had offered Chief of Staff to Emmanuel.
After watching his acceptance speech so heavy on bipartisanship, his entire campaign having been so heavily based on it, his first initiative was to offer the CoS to the most aggressive, conflict prone partisan you could imagine?
It's a terrible decision if it's true.
November 5, 2008 9:30 PM | Reply | Permalink