Whom Will We Get?
If the Obama Administration implements Clintonesque policies, I wouldn’t be that worried. If it implements Ted-Kennedy-like policies, I would be worried.
Two views on his probable Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel:
I doubt that Obama could find a more competent chief of staff, someone who would be part administrative director, part policy wonk, and part Karl Rove.
We know a lot about Barack Obama’s agenda, but what about Rahm Emanuel’s? He laid out his “Plan for America” in a 2006 book with Bruce Reed. . . .
Chief of staffs don’t set policies, presidents do. Nonetheless, both Obama and Emanuel have proposals to use universal service for young people to remake American society, though their plans differ. If Emanuel ends up running the White House staff, one should expect a universal service proposal that is, at a minimum, competently worked out and well presented.
Obama’s apparent selection of Rahm Emanuel for White House chief of staff is an extremely disconcerting (if not wholly surprising) first indication on the “which Obama will we get” question. It suggests both that he wants to be ruthless and partisan and that he does not have a clear sense of how the White House works.
More on Emanuel from Ynet News.