President-elect Obama's first potential big mistake: Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff


From: waynemadsenreport.com
November 5, 2008

President-elect Barack Obama's message of change may be splattered with a grease gun load of ooze if he appoints Illinois Representative Rahm Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel, a right-of-center Democrat who supported the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, is a longtime Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) operative and close ally of the Clintons.

Emanuel was the national finance director for the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. During the last quarter of 1992, Emanuel managed to raise in excess of $3 million for Clinton but a third of that money came from Arkansas, and much of that was from the coffers of the powerful Stephens, Inc., a financial empire built by Jackson T. Stephens, a major contributor to both Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush's and George W. Bush's campaigns. Stephens, Inc. was also represented by Hillary Rodham Clinton when she worked for Little Rock's Rose law firm.

The Stephens' ensured that, in addition to direct contributions to Bill Clinton, employees of Stephens' Worthen Bank made contributions to the Democratic candidate for president. The connections between the Clintons and the Stephens financial group were well known to Emanuel. Emanuel was described as a former Democratic campaign official for former Democratic presidential candidates Senators John Glenn of Ohio and Paul Simon of Illinois as a disagreeable political operative whose penchant has always been as a provocateur. Neil Lewis described Emanuel a bit more graciously in a March 2, 1992 New York Times article by referring to Emanuel's fund raising style as "intense."

After Clinton's election, Emanuel served as the director of political affairs in the Clinton White House. In 1993, Emanuel ruffled so many feathers in his job, Clinton's Chief of Staff Thomas "Mack" McLarty was forced to replace Emanuel as political affairs director. Emanuel was shifted over to deputy communications director. Gwen Ifill reported in The New York Times that Emanuel "developed a reputation as a counterproductive strategist who often offended those he was supposed to woo, including elected officials."

Emanuel later became a "senior adviser" to President Clinton. Emanuel ensured that Clinton stayed within the pro-big business arena of the DLC and did not veer to the Left, an anathema to Emanuel who is a champion of the "vital center" of politics.

Emanuel earned the distrust of House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, a strong pro-union Democrat, with his shepherding through of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a deal that was abhorred by labor.

During the Monica Lewinsky affair and the Kenneth Starr investigation, Emanuel was part of the small team of advisers Clinton relied on for support. Emanuel left the White House in the fall of 1998.
Emanuel joined the "boutique" investment bank of Wasserstein Perella & Company in Chicago in early 1999. Emanuel's connection to investment banking may raise a few eyebrows if he is appointed Chief of Staff as the American taxpayers are forced to pick up the tab for the Simon Legrees of Wall Street who have bankrupted the nation. Obama's message of "change" may instead sound like tons of monetary change coming out of a gigantic Wall Street slot machine.

Carl Hulse, writing in The New York Times on August 23, 2002, referred to Emanuel in his quest for a House of Representatives seat from Chicago as having a reputation for "abrasiveness and ambition." A former ballet student, Emanuel fended off charges from his primary opponent, Nancy Kaszak, that he was an "opportunist and carpetbagger." But Emanuel, whose brother is a big-time Hollywood agent, received large cash infusions from Tinsel Town and his nomination and election to the House was a done deal.
There are also Emanuel's dubious ties to Israel that would make any "honeymoon" for Obama with the Arab Middle East and the larger Muslim world a fleeting one. Emanuel served with the Israel Defense Force during Operation Desert Storm and questions persist about whether he hold dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship as an Israeli army veteran.

In 2004, Howard Dean's statement that he did not think the United States should take sides in the Israel-Palestinian dispute earned his opponent, General Wesley Clark, a strong supporter of Israel, Emanuel's endorsement and support. As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Emanuel continued to ruffle the feathers many Democratic House candidates who were not supported with national campaign funds because they were considered "too liberal" or insufficiently pro-Israel or too actively "anti-Iraq war."

Emanuel also remained stealthily non-committed in the early primary race between Chicago native Obama and the wife of Emanuel's one-time White House boss, Hillary Clinton. That lack of loyalty to one of Chicago's own ought to be considered by Obama when selecting the person who will be in charge of running all White House affairs, including political appointments.

The Democratic campaign official who tangled with Emanuel in the Glenn and Simon campaigns remarked that Emanuel was one of the "biggest assholes" he ever encountered during any campaign. President-elect Obama, if he truly wants to bring the nation together and effect change, may want to think twice before appointing an "asshole" as his Chief of Staff.