Emanuel is a serious Democrat insider. He made his bones in Chicago poliltics (not known for the cleanest tactics) as senior adviser and chief fund raiser for Mayor Richard Daley in'89. Went on to be a Clinton adviser from '92 to '98.
What's particualarly significant: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman since '02. This guy has got to know some serious dirt on just everybody in Congress. Make no mistake, this dude is a shark.
And now he's Obama's chief of staff, the conduit between the President and Congress. He might be the THIRD most powerful man in the White House, behind the Prez and the VP.
Comments (5)
You forgot his horns!
Posted by GarandFan | November 7, 2008 9:15 PM
Posted on November 7, 2008 21:15
This guy is a bulldog thug in "the Chicago way", as Sean Connery so simply put it in "The Untouchables" (1987).
I disagree with one point. These days, unless summoned, the VP needs to get an appointment like anyone else to see the PREZ. That goes through he Chief of Staff. I think Biden will basically be discarded to the basement.
Posted by Cowboy | November 7, 2008 10:08 PM
Posted on November 7, 2008 22:08
No substantive argument with any of you on your assessments--but I do have one [rhetorical] question:
THIS is CHANGE?
Insomuch as rot, decay, & decline are change, I suppose so.
Posted by Terwiliger | November 7, 2008 10:58 PM
Posted on November 7, 2008 22:58
Oh...BTW. The bit about knowing some dirt on everybody? It's the Saul Alinsky way. The man has already started. It's all in the books, right there for us to read.
Posted by Cowboy | November 8, 2008 8:48 PM
Posted on November 8, 2008 20:48
Yup a grade A thug.
Regarding having the dirt. If he doesn't have it, he'll create some.
He will be the enforcer - you play it Obama's way or it's the highway.
Can hardly wait until he tries to steamroll over Reid and Pelosi.
Then he'll follow up with having the "blue dogs" for "lunch".
That ought to be fun to watch.
Posted by Dr Bob | November 9, 2008 10:49 PM
Posted on November 9, 2008 22:49