Elton is close to Pete Rouse, who was Obama’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate and is now a special adviser to the president. Rouse and Elton worked together in Juneau in the late 1970s on the staff of Alaska Republican Lt. Gov. Terry Miller.
Elton said he was initially offered the job in mid-January but demurred, saying he wanted to sit down with Interior officials first. Elton said he wanted the choice on both sides to be based on “what we know about each other rather than what we may have heard about each other.” He attended Obama’s inauguration, staying with Rouse, and met with the officials. The talks turned into a vetting process ending Friday with the job offered and accepted.
http://www.adn.com/front/story/708481.html
..
(no link)
Alaska ties - Rouse ‘s deep-rooted links to state make him a key connection FROM JUNEAU TO OBAMA’S WEST WING
Anchorage Daily News (AK) - Sunday, February 22, 2009
Author: TOM KIZZIA
He once helped run state government in Juneau, played shortstop in a local softball league, and he still votes as an Alaska resident.
But these days, Pete Rouse works in the White House, two doors from his close friend, President Barack Obama.
For 25 years as the consummate Democratic insider in the U.S. Senate, Rouse played a quiet role as the backdoor connection for Alaska’s all-Republican delegation to the other side of the aisle in Congress. He was the longtime chief of staff for Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., the one-time Senate majority leader, and starting in 2004 Rouse took on the same job for a promising young freshman senator from Illinois.
Today, as special adviser to Obama, Rouse is in the innermost circle of the West Wing. His office sits between chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and communications director David Axelrod (for fans of “The West Wing” television series, that would be Josh Lyman’s physical office).
(snip)
The bums land everywhere, don’t they? Perfectly, purposely
placed for activation when needed.
Yeah .. like sleeper cells.