Why did Obama pick Rahm for his Chief of Staff?

[kentuck]

I've always thought it was because Rahm "knew the ropes" in Washington and in Congress. He knew how to "get things done".

Also, Obama was fairly new to Washington and needed someone to guide him past the pitfalls. What better person than one from his hometown of Chicago? He could trust him. He would watch his back.

And Rahm knew how to work with Congress. He could knock heads and get legislation passed.

But Rahm had visited Wall Street for a short time after his stint in Congress and made a good little mint in a very short time. He was partial to Wall Street. He was not their enemy.

So now he is the primary voice that the President listens to over all others, except maybe Bill Clinton?

[baldguy]

1. Rahm has the only remaining copy of Obama's original birth certificate.

:evilgrin:

[PassingFair]

2. Seriously....I think they're friends. They've worked together...

and Rahm has experience stiff-arming Congress

That's why he picked the thug.

[rocktivity]

3. I think having a DLC gatekeeper was part of the price he had to pay

for getting Hillary to back down.

:tinfoilhat:
rocktivity

[EFerrari]

6. You're probably right. n/t

[tularetom]

13. Bingo!

I've been saying that for months. I think this clown was forced on Obama.

But the fact that he's still there, after all the fuckups, is Obama's fault, nobody else's.

[AndyA]

4. And Rahm was the worst possible choice he could have made.

Rahm is largely responsible for so many of the Blue Dogs being in Congress right now. Those very same Blue Dogs who have fought Obama it seems every step of the way. I guess they don't listen to Rahm now.

Big mistake, Barack. And we're all going to pay for it come November if you don't get your shit together...fast.

[MissDeeds]

16. Exactly

The people Obama has chosen for his inner circle are not helping his image. There is an old axiom that you are judged by the company you keep, and the company he keeps sucks.

[KittyWampus]

20. You got that partly right. Rahm is responsible for the Democratic majority.

Along with the good work of Howard Dean.

But you go ahead and cling to your silly caricature and to heck with facts.

Someone once posted a list of the more liberal Dems Rahm helped get into Congress. But some DU'ers really are impervious to reality.

[EFerrari]

5. No. LBJ knew how to get things done. Rahm knows how to break things.

He will be remembered for losing elections and for dividing the voting base. But that probably doesn't matter to him or his base, the corporati.

I wish we wouldn't rehash Rahm until December or so. I still need to work November.

[kentuck]

7. You're probably right...

Sorry for bringing it up. :-(

[EFerrari]

8. It's probably me.

I need to scoot off to a hobby forum. You're fine, kentuck. :hi:

[HughMoran]

9. He should have been rejected because he had a job that paid well?

I can think of a lot of reasons to dislike the man, but that's a bit nit-picky IMO.

[kentuck]

14. I don't think he made over a million dollars...?

by working hard on his job??

[pscot]

10. We don't really have

a lot of information on this. No-one inside the administration talks to the media. We know less about the inner workings of the Obama crowd than any other administraton I can recall.

[notesdev]

11. Because that's the person he wanted

The thing to ponder is: now that you know Obama is not the person you were sold in the election, who is he really and what is he about?

[Swamp Rat]

12. k&r

[lurky]

15. To make him a one-term president?

Seriously. From day one, Rahm Emmanuel has been undermining the president, contradicting his public statements, actively alienating every segment of the president's base, and flogging a rabid pro-Wall-Street agenda that is not only bad policy, but bad politics in this environment. This is the president's "friend" and "political expert"? If I didn't know better, I'd think he was trying to sabotage the Obama administration.

[Karmadillo]

17. He wanted someone on the same wavelength?

nt

[another saigon]

21. yes indeed

the wave length we have no access to. We being the retarded, drug taking, professional left.

[SoCalDem]

18. payback.. (how most administrations fill jobs) n/t

[craigmatic]

19. You think Obama listens to Clinton? I doubt that.