Who is Rahm Emanuel?

The GOP and the intollerant are not happy. First the Dixiepulbicans. It did not take long in posting the following piece regarding the Emanuel nod, Obama’s Broken Promise. Some honeymoon. As for the fanantical, did you hear the one about the Black and the Jew in the White House? The rabid right are spinning here and here and here and . . .

Before I give you the Cliff Notes version of Emanuel, let me digress about the role of the Chief of Staff for the President of the United States. Well, it depends. The role and responsibilities of the Chief of Staff depend on the management style of the President as well as who the other senior staff advisers who surround the President. For instance, though Karl Rove was never the Chief of Staff in President Bush’s Administration, he ran the show.  While President Reagan had James Baker in the first term and Donald Regan in the second term as Chief of Staff; both of whom were very powerful. But after reading about Emanuel over the last few days, my impression is that he’ll be a strong Chief of Staff.

Hey, Dr. Frankenstein! Your Monster Has Taken On A Will Of Its Own

As much as I’m going to enjoy the already-in-progress battle between the Far Right and “RINO” wings of the Republican Party I have to admit that I’m rooting for the RINOs.  Sarah Palin got a little to close to the White House for my peace of mind.  Oh yeah, it was all fun and games until the possibility of a President Palin hit home.

McCain’s VP choice of desperation has only succeeded in validating a group that should have never been let out of the lab.  And for every David Anderson and Frank Knotts (Republicans who wear their extremism on their sleeve) there’s three Regent graduates who, while sharing their views, understand that in order to win, the packaging must be changed.  Dealing with openly Far Right Republicans is easy because… well… they’re scary.  Recognizing a wolf in sheep’s clothing could prove far more difficult.

Return Day Video of Biden & Atkins

Let me be the first to say, "WTF is with the big Wilmington Trust banner?" [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_oH1BfpdHo[/youtube] Atkins got all decked out for Return Day. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3oeKnWqH4[/youtube] He couldn't not take a…

Election Season Winners and Losers — National

It’s been a day and a half since Obama and Biden won and it is still seems amazing that we won what feels like a revolution and just as amazing to see Republicans lose all of their legendary discipline and indulge not just in a circular firing squad, but to see the previously voiceless moderate wing start to speak up and take names. Everyone is doing this exercise, so we might as well:

WINNERS

  • Hillary Clinton — she fought hard and was largely a victim of her own campaign, but when it was all said and done she got her supporters on the Obama bus and she campaigned her heart out for Obama.
  • John McCain’s Concession Speech — I didn’t get to really see this Election Night, but watching it last night I wondered what happened to this guy?  This is the guy that everyone thought would be a formidable candidate in a bad R year.  But his speech was gracious and seemed sincere, and would be a decent place to start re-earning that honor he lost.
  • Community Organizing — which was essentially the entire Obama project, focused on building grassroots support for his campaign and for Democrats everywhere
  • Democratic Party and Howard Dean — Howard is the man.
  • Young People — who came out in huge numbers and showed the way for the direct-to-voters networking that bypassed both the media filter and local Dem leadership
  • US — after 8 long years, we have a President who will work at governing for the majority of us, not just those watching the play by play on Fox News
  • Fivethirtyeight.com THE MATH done right.

Let’s try this again… Breaking:

Rahm Emanuel is Obama's Chief of Staff. Update: David Axelrod named  Senior Adviser in the White House. Robert Gibbs is also likely to join Obama's White House as Press Secretary