Nice. This is the guy that told the Republicans to go fuck themselves. Way to be divisive President Obama.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that was the American people.
OH SNAP!!!
wow and look at how thoughtful and helpful those replies were. This is actually going to be a fun 4 years getting to poke holes in your messiah.
And our President.
Lighten up.
I think Rahm will end up being a good choice in the long run because he has a talent for getting things done, but I think this sends the wrong message for Obama on the post-partisanship tip. I posted about it a couple of times already today, including elsewhere in this reblog chain.
To play “messiah’s advocate,” the selection of Rahm does send a contervailing signal to those who worry that Obama is going to be too cautious as to effectively pursue his agenda.
Also, Rahm’s worked with the transition team head, Podesta, before, so that is going to be a big advantage to getting off to a brisk start (very important).
Believe it or not, politically Rahm is actually a little too Clinton-DLC-Triangulatory, for my tastes.
To be frank, I am not sure how much Rahm’s supposed uber-politicization is actually going to impact his performance as chief of staff but it’s only as a guilty pleasure that I regard how he seems to completely freak out Republicans.
He’s like that player you love if he’s on your team but hate if he’s not. As a Chicago guy, A.J. Pierzynski and Andres Nocioni come to mind. What I mean is that until the mainstream feels like he’s on their team (and they might not ever feel that way) OR he sheds that reputation, there is the chance for a persistent political drag on the administration.
I’m trying to find some things besides his reputation that make this a bad choice. You have some things?
