There has been much speculation over what Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s appointment as President Elect Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff means. And once again The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder (who does a lot of original reporting and sourcing as well as blogging) hits the nail on the head: it seems to be a sign that Obama intends to do things his way — and try and stay in the center:
Advisers say that Obama has sent a not-so-subtle message to Congress: President-Elect Obama will not cede much agenda-setting ground to liberals. While outside Democrats are interpreting Emanuel’s selection as an institutional message for Nancy Pelosi, Obama advisers concede that Emanuel’s ties to key party centrists and blue dog Democrats will be critical to smoother relationships between the executive and legislative branches. (Emanuel is more liberal than these centrists, but he’s not nearly the ideologue that people seem to think he is.)
Behind the scenes, Obama himself and many key aides have been making overtures to conservative Democrats. These Democrats want budget off-sets included with every expensive piece of legislation that Obama sends to the Hill; at the very least, they want the White House to incorporate centrists in decision-making.
According to Ambinder, Obama — who has shown himself to be an astute student of political history who carefully avoids remaking the mistake wheel — remembers full well what happened to then President Bill Clinton who got into the Oval Office and found a major problem during his first two years was his own party members in Congress — particularly those more liberal than he was.
But the most interesting point Ambinder makes is this:
Importantly, Barack Obama doesn’t seem to be too interested in everyone else’s opinion of how he’s supposed to run his White House. This can only be a good thing (unless you’re a Republican praying for Obama to make a fool of himself). It seems that, much like with the campaign, he has some long term goals and isn’t worried about engaging in small fights over things like his West Wing staffing choices.
Obama showed a definite coolness and unrelenting goal-focus during the campaign. If you look at Obama’s history, this is what allowed him to rise so quickly to the top of the national scene. If his career pattern and campaign performance is any indication, he’ll keep his focus in office.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.