Rahm Emanuel: A War Time Consigliere?
There is a great scene in the second season of the West Wing where White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry (played by John Spencer), and White House Director of Communications Director, Toby Ziegler (played by Richard Schiff), are sitting in the Oval office after Toby got politically beat by the new chief of staff of the Republican Speaker of the House, Ann Stark. It goes like this:
Toby: We have got to get real now. Leo, Ann Stark is a war time consigliere that is why she was bumped up.
Leo: I am war time consigliere too, Toby. I was just hoping it would be peace time a little longer.
I am not sure if there was anyone who did not think that Rahm Emanuel was going to be President Obama’s Leo McGarry but as the Washington Post has recently reported, we have seen a completely different tact taken by Mr. Emanuel.
In fact, his appearance on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos earlier this week summed up how he has been as a chief of staff — he was eerily on message, well thought out and, frankly, charming. That being said, we certainly saw hints of the old Emanuel as he talked about the Presidents messages as just that, the President’s message, suggesting he might disagree with some of them. But alas, he did his job and got out.
No brazen attacks. No subtle threats to Republicans on the hill.
And we can look at how Emanuel handled the stimulus bill and and the budget. He met with key congressman, made deals and made friend AND never stormed out of a meeting screaming at anyone. Speaking of which, he apparently has made nice with Howard Dean.
The most surprising part of Emanuel’s shift in tacit is it comes just 2 years after he played a central role in winning Congress back for the Democrats in the 2006 midterms, thanks largely to his totally disregard for the finer points of the political game and instead becoming a force to reckon with. One that scared the crap out of many in Washington.
Is it the new seat of power he holds? Or perhaps Obama has put him on a short leash? Either way, it seems clear that Emanuel has found a new set of tools to orcestrate the democratic party.
The question now is who will be the White House enforcer if not Emanuel? Do they plan on playing it nice for the next 4-8 years? That might work while Meghan McCain and Rush Limbaugh are the head leaders face whatever of the Republican party but what happens when the Republicans find some real political leadership and get back into the game?
All I am saying is that someone is going to have to whip into the shape the Southern Blue Dog Democrats that Emanuel got elected in the last few years and I am not sure Bo is up to the job!