Oh wait, not Deanna, Dick:
Posted on 05/26/2010 12:24:09 PM PDT by maggief
Some are beginning to question just how much longer Rahm Emanuel will be occupying the office of Chief of Staff for President Obama. Which, of course, leads to a couple other questions - who gets the seat next, and what would Rahmbo do afterwards? He's already expressed an interest in taking the mayor's office, he's long desired to be Speaker of the House and the head of the Democratic National Convention, and then there are those pesky "placeholder" rumors about his initial appointment to his current position. Couple all this with the growing drumbeats about the unnamed "administration official" who might have, sorta, accidentally, illegally offered Joe Sestak a gig to drop out of the race with Arlen Specter. So what's the deal?
Historically, chiefs of staff don't last too long, with a couple years being a fairly average run. Chicago Magazine's Carol Felsenthal spoke with the deputy historian for the House of Representatives, Fred Beuttler, who believes that Emanuel will stick around through the '10 midterm elections but then skedaddle elsewhere, quite possibly to lead the DNC. Emanuel has expressed concerns that taking the White House job has "cost him his independence” and would probably be interested in being his own boss again.
In addition, the L.A. Times is saying that as immigration reform rears its head again, the administration would likely never move on it until Emanuel was out of the picture. Pair that information with what Marc Ambinder at The Atlantic is saying: "[Senator Dick] Durbin isn't really the future chief of staff. But he might be." Sure, it's tenuous at best, but the president has established that he likes working with people from his neck of the woods. Would he pull one of the most senior Democratic senators out of Congress to help push forward his agenda?
Let's play a little musical chairs. If Rahmbo leaves the Chief of Staff position, he could either end up as head of the DNC or as mayor of Chicago, should Daley decide to opt for the simple life at his summer home on the western shores of Michigan (which is looking doubtful, more on that later). Durbin then leaves his Senate seat to be CoS which allows Governor Quinn to install Alexi Giannoulias in the open seat (or David Hoffman, or Lisa Madigan) presuming that Mark Kirk reigns supreme in the actual Senate race, which is something that's looking more and more likely. We end up with a new mayor, two new senators, and the head of the DNC with strong Chicago ties. Whew.
Naturally, all of this is blue-skying, but in Chicago politics someone is always looking a few steps ahead. If anyone sees the President around town this weekend, ask him if he knows what's up, won't you?
Wanna know where this guy should go next?...prison.
Is that your mind at work?
I like.
:)
You have to remember three crucial points about Rahm:
(1) Rahm's entree into the top echelons of govt are paved with his past victories: 4-term Congressman Rahm was beatified as the man who masterminded the Congress and WH takeover. Rahm ran the "Our Common Values PAC" in 2005 and chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee 2006-07.
Rahm had Dems winning in solid Republican districts running as "true believers." Maoist Ohaha won saying things like, "I want to be another Reagan." Now judging by the huge Dem losses to date---and the looses we foresee in 2010-12-----Rahm gets the blame.
(2) Rahm's first moves as COS: (a) his takeover of US Treasury activities including the $14 trillion bailout, and, (b) putting his brother in charge of the Medicare/Aid billions which includes billions from OhahaCare.
Rahm has so much money socked away, he can live like the Sultan of Brunei and/or buy himself any office he wants.
(3) Ohaha has said Rahm tells him everything he needs to know about Israel (Rahm's father is an Israeli and Rahm himself is a dual citizen). Ohaha's Black base is troubled by this----inner city Blacks blame Jews for keeping them in poverty; Blacks say ghetto businessman inveigled Blacks into buying cheap TV's and furniture for $5 a week that never ended, since the shoddy goods had to be replaced over and over.
This has also resulted in conflicting messages coming out of the WH----with the popular perception being that Rahm is acting like a free agent, meeting with Israeli officials-----while Ohaha thumbs his nose at them.
Oh gosh, no ... from the Chicagoist, who obviously
is well versed in IL Combine politics. ;)
“no sitting Senator would want to leave and become Chief of Staff.”
This probably depends on who you are.
“The White House Chief of Staff is the highest ranking member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States and a senior aide to the President. The office-holder has been dubbed “The Second-Most Powerful Man or Woman in Washington” due to the nature of the job”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Chief_of_Staff
Dick Durbin’s in a leadership position, so you may be right in his particular case. But remember that Howard Baker went from being Senate Minority Leader to later becoming Reagan’s COS (admittedly he wasn’t an active Senator when he took on this role), so he clearly didn’t view such a position as beneath him. For the same reason, there have been other former Senators and governors who have gladly stepped into the COS role. You could argue that Cheney parleyed his tenure in that position into an eventual VP slot!
Oh wait, not Deanna, Dick:
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. called on the inspector general of the US Department of Transportation to "investigate whether any federal funds were misused or spent in any unauthorized way."
BTW, did you know that Sen Dick Durbin went to Denmark with the Ohaha's and the Chicago Olympics 2016 Committee?. They Ohaha's were so sneaky as to who went. They took two govt planes---musta been quite a crowd. Videos aired from Denmark showed a few unfamiliar faces. Oprah was kept under wraps. Mrs Ohaha was shown getting off the plane alone. Only the Ohaha's were supposed to "shine"......er, ah, make that, bomb. LOL.
Chatting on the way to Copenhagen.
"Barack never breaks a sweat? Are you kidding?
Wait'll you see him in that Sedona sweat lodge."
Yep. “Fish” Emmanuel steps down, Turban Durbin steps in it.
Just what we need.
I'm sickened but not surprised.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.