Dems: Emanuel's "gut instincts" trump Obama's

[The Hope Mobile]

Source: Washington Post

updated 3:41 a.m. PT, Tues., March. 2, 2010

Rahm Emanuel is officially a Washington caricature. He's the town's resident leviathan, a bullying, bruising White House chief of staff who is a prime target for the failings of the Obama administration.

But a contrarian narrative is emerging: Emanuel is a force of political reason within the White House and could have helped the administration avoid its current bind if the president had heeded his advice on some of the most sensitive subjects of the year: health-care reform, jobs and trying alleged terrorists in civilian courts.

It is a view propounded by lawmakers and early supporters of President Obama who are frustrated because they think the administration has gone for the perfect at the expense of the plausible. They believe Emanuel, the town's leading purveyor of four-letter words, a former Israeli army volunteer and a product of a famously argumentative family, was not aggressive enough in trying to persuade a singularly self-assured president and a coterie of true-believer advisers that "change you can believe in" is best pursued through accomplishments you can pass.

By all accounts, Obama selected Emanuel for his experience in the Clinton White House, his long relationships with the media and Democratic donors, and his well-established -- and well-earned -- reputation as a political enforcer, all of which neatly counterbalanced Obama's detached, professorial manner. A president who would need the deft navigation of Congress to pass his ambitious legislation turned to the Illinois congressman and former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because he possessed a unique understanding of the legislative mind.

The pairing made sense, but things haven't worked out as expected. And in the search for what has gone wrong, influential Democrats are -- in unusually frank terms -- blaming Obama and his closest campaign aides for not listening to Emanuel. And this puts the 50-year-old chief of staff in a very uncomfortable position.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35658093/ns/politics-washington_post/

---

What a load of horseshit.

"influential Democrats are -- in unusually frank terms -- blaming Obama and his closest campaign aides for not listening to Emanuel. And this puts the 50-year-old chief of staff in a very uncomfortable position".

It does go on to say that some previous supporters of Emanuel now think it was a mistake . . . uh duh!!! Nobody thinks Obama should be listening more to Emanuel except Emanuel.

[Myrina]

1. ... let me guess, Rahm was the 'unidentified source' for the article ...

:puke:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. Bingo!

:D

[bemildred]

2. Sounds Bushlike. A lot of "gut" decisions from Bush too, all bad ones. nt

[The Hope Mobile]

31. That's what I thought. Orwellian even.

Heckuvajob, Rahmie!!

[Joanne98]

3. *&^%$#

[zipplewrath]

4. He loses either way

I'm finding this effort to defend Rahm funny. I'm sure it is involved in some internal conflict that is spilling out into the public. But in the end I'm not sure Rahm's defenders have a leg to stand on here. There are few options, most of them bad.

1) He has little influence and no ability to execute the presidents strategy.

2) He is responsible and the failures are his fault

3) His presence is the cause of the conflict, and the conflict is causing failure.

I mean, about the only thing he has going for him is the concept that if everyone else would leave and Obama would listen just to him, he might be able to do better. Any supervisor will tell you that at some point, no one is that valuable. If you are the problem, right, wrong or indifferent, success will lie in a place in which you are not there.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. More evidence that Rahm's on the skids.

He's pulling out all the stops at the WaPo. First he got Dana Milbank to transcribe his message, and now Horowitz is doing the stenography.

Rahm is undoubtedly the greatest superstar to grace the White House since--well, Rahm. If you don't believe me, ask Rahm--or Milbank--or Horowitz. For some reason they all seem to speak with one voice.

[Barack_America]

20. I am heartened by the emerging "Rahm vs. Obama" theme.

And am hoping it means what I think it means.

[Me.]

7. I'm Sure This Must Be True

After all we know how Rahm, in his wisdom appreciates all wings of the party, especially progressives. I mean was it he really do did best to knock them out of races and insert blue dogs who are causing so much trouble now? I'm sure it was someone else who wasted 2 mil on the Duckworth campaign. And didn't Rahm, paying astute attention to the polls and wishes of the American people, support the public option? He's been given a bad rap for trying to convert Obama's presidency into that of Clinton's. And hasn't this article raised him ten feet above everyone else in the WH including the president. I bet they all just love that.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. The character of Josh on the The West Wing was created after Rahm

just saying

[Blue State Bandit]

18. Rahm is no Leo McGarry

But in reality, I'm sure that Brad Whitford would make a better COS.

[Vidar]

22. When I heard that, I started hating Josh.

[Bette Noir]

9. So, if Obama had listened to Emanuel more, he wouldn't be black,

and the teabaggers wouldn't be racist? I'm not buying it.

[sabrina 1]

10. The problem started as soon as Obama chose Rahm

and continued as he agreed with Rahm that dumping your base, the people you need to support you after as well as before you are elected, was the 'pragmatic' thing to do.

The 'no PO', mandated healthcare bill supported by Rahm has failed because the American people don't like it. I wonder if Rahm is not the one responsible for Obama's back peddling on his campaign claims that he did not believe in mandated health insurance as it is, in his own words 'unfair to force people to buy something they cannot afford'.

It's way past time to dump Rahm the way he dumps others but I doubt that will happen.

[Selena Harris]

15. Show me the money , Freddie Mac.

After serving as an advisor to Bill Clinton, in 1998 Emanuel resigned from his position in the Clinton administration and became an investment banker at Wasserstein Perella (now Dresdner Kleinwort), where he worked until 2002.<29> In 1999, he became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office. Emanuel made $16.2 million in his two-and-a-half-year stint as a banker, according to Congressional disclosures.<29Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") by then President Bill Clinton in 2000. His position earned him at least $320,000, including later stock sales.[31><32> He was not assigned to any of the board's working committees, and the Board met no more than six times per year.<32>

During his time on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities.<32><33> The Obama Administration rejected a request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director.<32>

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) later accused the board of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention." Emanuel resigned from the board in 2001 when he ran for Congress.<34>

WIKIPEDIA

[No Elephants]

19. I just might give Daschle some of the credit for the back pedaling.

[Demeter]

11. And Yet Rahm Is Still There. Whose Fault Is That?

The Big O. (soon to be pronounced "Zero" instead of "Oh")

[JDPriestly]

12. Rahm Emmmanuel's instincts have lowered Obama's ratings in the polls.

Rahm Emmanuel should resign -- now. He has brought chaos to the White House.

I question your statement that Rahm Emmanuel volunteered for the Israeli army. Where does that information come from?

Here is an excerpt from his bio on Wikipedia.

Emanuel was born in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish parents.<4> His father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, a Jerusalem-born pediatrician, was a member of the Irgun.<5><6> His mother, Marsha Smulevitz, was the daughter of a Chicago union organizer.<1> She worked in the civil rights movement and owned, briefly, a local rock and roll club.<5> She is now a psychiatric social worker.<5> The two met in Chicago in the 1950s.<1> Emanuel's older brother Ezekiel J. Emanuel is an oncologist and bioethicist, and his brother Ari Emanuel a Hollywood talent agent.<7> He has an adopted sister, Shoshanna, 14 years his junior.<5>

Emanuel's first name, Rahm (רם) means high or lofty in Hebrew, and is the namesake of one Rahamim (surname unknown), which means mercy in Hebrew. <8><9> The surname Emanuel (עמנואל), adopted by the family in honor of his father's brother Emanuel Auerbach, killed in Arab-Jewish fighting in Jerusalem, means God is with us. Sources conflict as to whether the family changed its name from Auerbach in 1933 or 1938.<5><8><9>

When the family lived in Chicago, Emanuel attended Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Jewish Day School, a Conservative Jewish day school.<10> After his family moved to Wilmette, he attended public schools: Romona School, Wilmette Junior High School, and New Trier West High School.<1><11> He and his brothers attended summer camp in Israel, including just after the 1967 Six Day War.<5><12>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel

Attending summer camp is a far cry from volunteering for an army. Where does your information come from?

[JDPriestly]

13. Here is a debunking of the army volunteer story.

His strongest opponent of the seven other candidates in the 2002 Democratic primary — the real contest in this heavily Democratic district — was former Illinois State Representative Nancy Kaszak, who had unsuccessfully opposed Blagojevich in the 1996 primary. The most controversial moment of the primary election came when Edward Moskal, president of the Polish American Congress, a political action committee endorsing Kaszak, called Emanuel a "millionaire carpetbagger who knows nothing" about "our heritage". Moskal also charged that Emanuel had dual citizenship with Israel and had served in the Israeli Army.<35> Emanuel did not serve in the Israeli army, but was a civilian volunteer assisting the Israel Defense Forces for a short time during the 1991 Gulf War, repairing truck brakes in one of Israel's northern bases with Sar-El.<36><37> Emanuel brought together a coalition of Chicago clergy to denounce the incident. He recalled, "One of the proudest moments of my life was seeing people of my district from all backgrounds demonstrate our common values by coming together in response to this obvious attempt to divide them."<10> Moskal's comments were denounced as anti-Semitic by Kaszak.<35>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahm_Emanuel

It would be good for the country if Rahm Emmanuel resigned, but please tell me where you got the idea that he served in the Israeli army. Telling a questionable story makes your post less credible.

[The Hope Mobile]

30. Just a cut and paste from the article in the WashingtonPost.com nt

[SlingBlade]

14. More Back Channel Bullshit from Rahms Shills I see.

[emsimon33]

16. Rahm Emanuel is what is wrong with this administration

[No Elephants]

17. Clap if you believe that this "narrative" "emerged" from someone other than Noodles himself!

"But a contrarian narrative is emerging: Emanuel is a force of political reason within the White House and could have helped the administration avoid its current bind if the president had heeded his advice on some of the most sensitive subjects of the year: health-care reform, jobs and trying alleged terrorists in civilian courts.

It is a view propounded by lawmakers and early supporters of President Obama who are frustrated because they think the administration has gone for the perfect at the expense of the plausible."


I'd like to believe the above, but I have emories of Rahm and so many talking heads saying "the perfect the enemy of the good," "the perfect the enemy of the good," "the perfect the enemy of the good." Over and over and over.

So, I'm thinking maybe Noodles launched both propaganda initiatives.

Is it coincidence that this initative is being launched as the public option letter/commitment by Senators circulates?

Or is Rahm thinking of spending more time with Andrew Card's family, http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=3273712&blogId=117213427

In other words, is this is the beginning of the end of the Rahm Legacy Project?

[pjt7]

21. Rahm virtually writes

his own newspaper articles & get's the media to copy it & distribute.

It's FUN being able to easily figure out the fraud in today's MSM!

Washington Post sucks for starting this propoganda.

[yurbud]

23. If he listened to Emanuel's advice more, we could do away with elections since

we'd get Republican policies no matter who we vote for.

[NoodleyAppendage]

24. Emanuel is Obama's Iago.

Emanuel is poison through-and-through. Countless persons here and in the blogsphere saw this coming, but Obama's downfall is that he did not. Obama will fail because of this. Until Emanuel is extracted the cancer upon the Obama WH will remain.

J

[backtomn]

25. Ridiculous !!!

Understanding that (of course) Obama is ultimately responsible for how things are going, the notion that Rahm is somehow a shrinking violet that is being rolled by a bunch of Democratic moderates is silly. However, if it is true, he should be fired immediately, in favor of a more effective advisor.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[yurbud]

27. Rahm reminds me of what Henry Ford said about choosing the color of your Model T:

You can have any color you want as long as it's black.

With Rahm, you can vote for anyone you want, as long as they are corporate compliant.

[Dogmudgeon]

28. I heard that Rahm once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die

He's one mean hombre!

--d!

[freddie mertz]

29. More Rahm shenanigans...

He has a lot of pals in the boys' clubs of the DC press corps.