President Obama clearly wants Rahm Emanuel to wait until after the November elections to leave the White House to run for mayor of Chicago.
"He is an excellent chief of staff. I think right now, as long as he is in the White House, he is critically focused on making sure that we're creating jobs for families around the country and rebuilding our economy," Obama told George Stephanopoulos on Good Morning America. "And you know, the one thing I've always been impressed with about Rahm is that when he has a job to do, he focuses on the job in front of him. And so my expectation is, he'd make a decision after these midterm elections. He knows that we've got a lot of work to do. But I think he'd be a terrific mayor."
But if Emanuel wants to run for mayor, what Obama should do instead is hustle his vulgarity-prone chief of staff onto Air Force One and return him to the Windy City without delay.
Obama appears to want to choose stability to get him through the coming election which appears to be a tough one for his party. But, in fact, he would be much better served all around if he began a wholesale West Wing shake-up today.
Let me be clear: I urge Emanuel's quick departure out of no ill will or feeling toward him personally or politically. I certainly have not always agreed with him, but unlike others on the Left, I think Emanuel has made valuable contributions.
The former congressman clearly has had a lot to do with a string of Obama successes, including last year's stimulus, up through healthcare reform, banking reform and more. And, of course, without Emanuel, Democrats today might not have won the majority that this year they so dearly need to defend.
That said, if Emanuel wants to try for his dream job at City Hall, then the time for him to make the move is before, not after, Americans go to the polls.
Consider the timing of George W. Bush's decision to replace Donald Rumsfeld. Bush waited to fire his secretary of defense until the day after Democrats retook Congress in 2006. Republicans became angry because they argued that they could have at least kept the Senate if Bush had let Rumsfeld go earlier.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Scott, you're deeply delusional. Like the whole Democratic party I think you need some intense therapy. I can't even believe you said this:
" it could also help the White House get a jump on the additional economic fixes that this economy clearly needs sooner, rather than later."
Do you live in some alternate reality where the Obama "fixes" were not disastrous, where they were something other than massive payoffs to special interests and powerful political allies?
The charade is over, Scott.
Dave
2 - jeannie danna
Scott,
I wouldn't be that anxious about November, and Rahm leaving the WH would look bad right now.
"The WH has it right, and liberals are pleased with what Pres. Obama has been able to accomplish even under the strains of a still-weakened economy." from your link. I changed may to are.
There are a hell of a lot more Liberal/Democrat compared to the fractured by a cup of tea GOP/Conservative.
Get people to want to VOTE.
JD
3 - Dave Nalle
There are a hell of a lot more Liberal/Democrat compared to the fractured by a cup of tea GOP/Conservative.
Your math skills need some work. There's a huge difference between party identification where the Democrats have a lead over Republicans and how people tend to vote. Most Americans are now independents who identify with neither party, but those independents tend to vote Republican by a strong majority.
Dave
4 - handyguy
A big housecleaning carries the risk of conveying the idea that the White House assumes a loss, or that they will look desperate.
5 - handyguy
Do you live in some alternate reality where the Obama "fixes" were not disastrous, where they were something other than massive payoffs to special interests and powerful political allies?
When Obama took office, jobs were being lost at the rate of half a million or more each month.
For 9 of the last 10 months, from Nov 2009 through Aug 2010, private companies have added jobs. Manufacturing activity has increased for 13 months in a row.
The recovery is still slow and needs to gain steam. But your description is pure election-year propaganda, not fact-based.