As Mr. G. posted earlier, the politicos and pundits are abuzz about Rep. Rahm Emanuel’s acceptance of the offer to be President-elect Obama’s Chief of Staff (a.k.a, CoS).

Much of the coverage and commentary suggests the CoS role is a critical one — that, while the person in this position may not be capable of single-handedly making or breaking a president, his/her influence can probably tip the scales between success or failure on many fronts.

That prompted me, in turn, to recall the suggestion by my hard-right conservative friends that Obama would be another Jimmy Carter.

Carter’s CoS was Hamilton Jordan, who pronounced his last name “JER-dun,” as the New York Times report on his death earlier this year reminds us.

The same NYT report also notes that Mr. Jordan had “a rapier wit that knew how to draw blood,” that he “was one of a triumvirate of Georgians — along with Jody Powell and Bert Lance — who became known as the Georgia Mafia during the Carter presidency,” and that he “developed something of a difficult reputation during his White House years.”

Sounds a bit like Emanuel’s allegedly hard-charging, take-no-prisoners style — although there is, I think, a critical difference. Jordan and many of Carter’s inner circle were not only outsiders to Beltway protocol, they bucked that protocol — in dress, style, word, and deed. That’s not Emanuel. He may be rough around the edges, but he has years of experience with the ways and means of the former-swamp known as Washington, D.C.

So while Carter-the-outsider picked other outsiders to guide him, Obama-the-outsider has picked a consummate insider. Bemoan that if you will. Until proven otherwise, I’ll consider it “Sign #1” of this post-election cycle that Obama is not Jimmy Carter’s second act.

There are, of course, other reasons to suspect good from Emanuel’s appointment. As noted at Politico:

Despite his combative political instincts, [Emanuel) has working relationships with many congressional Republicans, including Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), a rising GOP star who said after his reelection this week that he plans to leave his No. 3 post in the party’s House leadership …

And this:

Emanuel is known as a centrist and a pragmatic dealmaker. Under Clinton, he helped engineer passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which is opposed by the party’s left wing.

Time will tell if he brings the same sensibilities to Obama’s administration.