More on Daley BOOT

Guardian: Reports the following on the ousting of Bill Daley as Obama’s Chief of Staff, “ ..Daley, who was brought in to exercise tighter control over a sometimes ill-disciplined White House staff …he failed to do ”. This is an election year folks, thus the White House needs tough Chief of Staff who has the ear of the President, if your Chief of Staff cant control the White House this creates problems on the Campaign trail, also if he is not part of the inner team you risk different messages coming out of the White House. Lets see how the Daley’s of Chicago react to this after the fuzz had died down, Obama would not have dared to sack the legendary Mayor Daley of Chicago, even JFK ( 13 Days - film ) was afraid of that Daley. That the thing about US politics, it’s a rough business, and Chicago politics is even harsher.

Daley Resignation and the Oval

BBC News: Reports that the resignation of Bill Daley as President Obama’s Chief of Staff is due to his failure to connect to the kitchen cabinet of the Obama team. That the problem if you spend two years running for President, you develop an inner team, totally loyal to one man, the President, a President thinks that since this team got him elected they know better than Washington insiders, that was Jimmy Carter’s problem as seen from the Hill. In essence to fire a Daley of Chicago is big political news, the main stream media wont deal with it, they will cover for Obama, that the point for the next year folks, what ever Obama does, it will be good, the reverse for the Republicans.

All Change at the White House - Chief of Staff

The White House: Remarks by President Obama on the departure of Chief of Staff Bill Daley, the President stated the following reasons for the departure, “ ..Bill told me that he wanted to spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren, and he felt it was the right decision. ”. In other words he got the boot, you only say something like this if you don’t want a revenge book to land on the Oval Office desk. One has to wonder that someone could not have thought of something less traditional for when someone is sacked. This old chestnut of spending more time with the family went out with Emperor Augustus. If this is the strategic level of the Obama re-elect committee they have more problems that just a jobless rate.

Rahm Emanuel OUT

Telegraph: Reports that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is to leave the Obama Administration on Friday to run for Mayor of Chicago. Its interesting timing folks, a month before the 2010 Mid Term Elections, one can postulate that once Mr Emanuel is back in Chicago the Obama White House will blame him if President Obama loses the House and Senate in November. As noted in few articles from the US it seems that Mr Emanuel had constant runs in with the liberals around Obama, also you have a President who thinks he is the smartest person in the room, when you have Bob Woodward in the room with the President its not Obama that is the smartest. If the Republicans take the House and Senate and it looks like the Republicans will take the House and get parity with the Democrats in the Senate the Obama White House will have a decision, in 1994 Bill Clinton had the same election outcome, he moved the centre and won re-election in 1996, but Clinton like Reagan was pragmatic, Obama as stated thinks he is the smartest person in the room, how will his arrogance and ego cope with a Congress that just says NO. This election in some odd respects will really show the Obama character, can he be pragmatic, or is he so stuck to the liberal cause that he wants to be a one term President like Carter.

Rahm Emanuel OUT?

Telegraph: Reports that President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel could leave after the Mid Term Congressional Elections of 2010. This story follows a trend, of late one has seen stories that are favorable for Emanuel at the expense of the President Obama, the theme is that Mr Emanuel is pragmatic and willing to cut deals while the inner team of Obama from the Campaign of 08 only see their Agenda, thus the present southward trend in the polls for the President. As noted in this blog Mr Emanuel is a political animal in his own right, he wants a career after Obama, if Obama does not run or goes down to a 48/49 state defeat Mr Emanuel does not want go down on the Obama EGO Titanic. The 2010 Mid Term Congressional Elections are expected to be tough for Democrats, if the Obama White House lose the House Mr Emanuel does not want to be round when the Republicans start to investigate the job offers by the Obama White House to candidate is state races, Mr Emanuel was around for the Bill Clinton Impeachment, he does not want that hanging over his head, it has been suggested for some time that Rahm Emanuel will run for Mayor of Chicago, well a bad Mid Terms would be a good way to get out, also to restart his own political career, does Mr Emanuel see Obama as another Jimmy Carter, thus he wants out?

Out of Left Field - 2010 Mid Term Elections

The New Republic: Argues that the Obama White House needs to follow the 1982 Reagan model for the Mid Term Elections, that Obama needs to follow the Reagan message of " staying the course." Its an interesting perspective but is let down by a view out of left field, the article states the following on the Obama message so far, " But Obama (has ) been reluctant to stigmatize George W. Bush and the Republicans--perhaps out of a spirit of bipartisanship. " In less I have been asleep for year that all Obama has done since January 20th 2009 is to blame Bush 43, from the economic to foreign affairs, lets be clear Obama is no Ronald Reagan, he lacks the ability to tell a story, the American story, Reagan as an ex actor new that it was important that the audience or voter understood the overall message if not details, Obama is all about details, thus his obsession with health care reform. As recent elections have shown the Obama magic touch has gone out of the window, some of his staff see him as the second coming, Mr Emanuel is the exception to that rule. Thus when it comes to a clear simple message the last person you need is President Obama, his own intellectual arrogance complicates the message and can lead to the Republicans taking over the House. The real political world will hit the Oval when the Republicans are in charge of Congress and just say No to Obama, as POTUS said himself, elections have consequences, the question is will Obama be Reagan or Mondale in 1984.

If they Deni, ITS TRUE - White House

CNN News: Reports on the rejection by close Obama Aide David Axelrod of tensions between himslef and Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. A rule of thump folks if Government denies a story take it as fact, so there is political tension between those that worship Obama as the second coming and the real political operators such as Mr Emanuel. It comes down to one issue folks, that is health care reform, the Obama worshippers want to push HCR through even at the cost of losing the Hill to the Republicans, they only see Obama, while Mr Emanuel sees the next election, that is the Mid Term Elections in November being a disaster for Democrats. As stated after the Congress passes HCR the Obama White House will have to sell the Act, interesting notion to sell tax hikes and forcing Americans to buy insurance. That is why Obama will be a one term President.

Rahm Emanuel vs Obama Redux

Guardian: Has picked up on the public tensions between Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and President Obama, the article states the following, " ( Emanuel )...has damaged the standing of the presidency and undermined his boss. ". This blog has followed the developing feud between Mr Emanuel and Mr Obama, in the right corner you have a political expert and a political animal in his own right Rahm " Expletive Deleted " Emanuel, and on the left you have President " STAR/Second Coming " Obama, the problem is that Mr Emanuel is a political animal in his own right, he wants a political career after Obama has gone back to Chicago, thus he can not afford to go over the cliff with Obama. The President actual believes his own press statements and the worship of the Campaign 08 has gone to his head, the Nobel Prize Committee didn't help with his ego, thus you have Mr Emanuel who can see the cliff and does not want to fall over with Obama and Obama who thinks he can walk on water. Lets see who is right folks.

Burn OUT - David Axelrod

The New York Times: Reports on the strains that David Axelrod suffers due to being a close aide to President Obama. The article has an interesting take on the inner power relationships of the Obama White House, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is " the administration’s chief pragmatist, and Mr. Axelrod, by implication, as something of a swooning loyalist. ". All Presidents have an Axelrod, Bush 43 had Karl Rove, the question is do they have someone like Nancy Reagan, someone the President cant fire, someone he cant escape from, Mrs Reagan was a powerful player in the White House during Iran - Contra, she helped President Reagan get the ship back on course, does the President Obama have someone who can tell him the truth, the real truth and does not consider him the Second Coming. If not President Obama will be a one term President and he will be seen as a false prophet in the eyes of many Americans, that will hurt this arrogant President.

Rahm Emanuel ATTACKING Obama ?

The Daily Beast: Reports on a recent article in the Washington Post that paints a picture of a heroic Chief of Staff in the shape of Mr Emanuel and a political idiot President in the shape of President Obama. The background to the article is the fact that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is not a good manager or to be more precise he does not know how to manage President Obama. One should note that Mr Emanuel is a political animal in his own right, he was in Congress before taking the the job at the White House. It seems from the article that President Obama is not listening to the advice of his Chief of Staff, this shows a failure to manage a President. At the end of the day every President needs someone who can take them by the labels and speak truth to power. It seems from the article that the Kitchen Cabinet of Obama think he is the second coming, he is not, he no Ronald Reagan. All the charisma but none of the political instinct that is develop over time, not a couple of years in the US Senate. Even Ronald Reagan had Nancy Reagan who could tell him when he was well of the reservation as to be on the moon. Thus it can be postulated that Mr Emanuel will not be Chief of Staff in the long term, Presidents at the end of the day don't like to be pictured as idiots and the Washington Post article seems to stress that Obama is tone deaf and is just reading his own press statements as if they are the bible. Thus who will be the next Obama Chief of Staff.

JAWS out for Rahm Emanuel

The Hill: Reports how Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has become the guy to blame for the failure of the Obama first year. Lets be honest folks its not the fault of Mr Emanuel, its the fault of President Obama, but the Democratic Party cant say that they have elected a political dud after just a year thus they have to have someone to attacks, thus Mr Emanuel is the perfect fall guy for Obama, the left don't like him as they see him as keeping President Obama from going more left wing; YES I DON'T GET THAT EITHER; also he was a close aide to Bill Clinton, thus that worries the left wing, they wanted a charismatic Walter Mondale with Tax hikes and health care reform. It can be argued that Mr Emanuel was leaking political blood in the water for some time, thus if health care reform fails the Obama team will need someone to blame, thus my argument of late that Mr Emanuel will find that he wants to run for Mayor of Chicago, thus a clear and clean with dignity exit from the White House. Mr Emanuel is a loser, and Obama throws them under the bus, just ask his former White House lawyer who had promised to close the Guantánamo Bay within a year and failed, he was out, it started with negative stories in the press and then he was out, lets see if Mr Emanuel can see the light and gets out before he is sacked.

Health Care Reform DEAD

The New York Times: Reports on the White House view of the Agenda for President Obama this year, the Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel stated the following, " act first on job creation, reducing the deficit and imposing tighter regulation on banks before returning to the health measure,.... " In other words moderate and conservative Democrats tell the Liberals to get lost, health care reform is dead folks, by the time they reach health care the Mid Term Elections will be in full swing, no way is the House or the Senate Democrats going to vote for a measure that will hand Congress over to the Republicans. Health Care Reform will have to wait for another time, another defeat.

Emanuel TARGET of LEFT

Fox News: Reports that the liberal left in the Democratic Party is placing the blame of the political troubles of President Obama at the door of the Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, they had hoped for a more left wing President. There is blood in the water folks, this is how White House Counsel Greg Craig found out that he was on the way out, it started with leaks then he was out, so far we have liberal Nation and now the Conservative Fox News on the leak trail. How many think Mr Emanuel will be here next year, with the Presidency everyone can be booted with the exception of the President, thus the days of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff are down to months if not weeks. Got to love politics, its a brutal sport, yes its a sport, one day your on Olympic Mountain, then you are thrown out like last nights meal, the fun part is watching the process, blood in the water folks, my guess that Mr Emanuel will run for Mayor of Chicago, nice exit route and with some dignity.

Rahm Emanuel on the WAY OUT?

Politico: Reports on the speculation that the White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel could be on the way out. As a political operator Mr Emanuel is the best, he helped the Democrats retake the House from the Republicans, but as a Chief Staff is is lousy, think of Obama's poll ratings, they have gone south in a major way, the RCP average of Polls has Obama on 48.8% approval and 45.8 disapproval, the job of a Chief of Staff is to tell the President NO sometimes, its not to follow your own Agenda, the problem is that Mr Emanuel is a political animal in his own right, this has not be common to most Chief of Staffs of late, the last was Dick Cheney, what happened to him, yes Vice - President of the United States. A good Chief of Staff has to be ruthless but also has to have the ability to tell the POTUS that he is out of his mind, look at the effect of health care on the Obama ratings. If the Democrats lose the House in 2010 and the Republicans pick a few Senate Seats the Obama Agenda is dead on the Hill, no second chances. Thus it can be postulated that POTUS will show Emanuel the door should he lose the Hill. This my prediction that Mr Emanuel will be in the cold in the New Year of 2011.

First Casulty of the WAR with Fox News

The Washington Post: Reports on the Departure of the White House Director of Communications, Anita Dunn, the WP reports it was all planned but allows the White House to close the battle with Fox News. Call me cynical but it seems from the report that Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel could also be in the firing line, the WP reports that Mr Emanuel wants to return to active politics as in running for public office. Lets recall that President Obama has seen according to Gallup the greatest fall in popularity of any President since Gallup started, also the Obama Health Care Bill as passed by the House is a dodo in the Senate, thus what would you do if your Obama and you have the Mid Term Elections next year, yes to get rid of people who are hurting you with the press, and yes Fox News is a major player in the US news market. Obama like Reagan and LBJ needs that public affection, lets also recall that on all policy fronts the President has lost support of majority of US voters, just look at the Governors races in New Jersey and Virgina. Thus as reported on Fox News ( YES DEMOCRATS, IT DOES COUNT ) the White House next year wants to turn its attention to the economy, well there is a problem folks, the health care bill will stall in the Senate, the Cap on Trade green bill is a dodo, thus Obama has to turn to something to get some public support. The problem with Obama is that he belives his own press statements, thus the actual policy he should take of lower taxes is a problem as the House Health Bill calls for a raise in taxes, and a call for smaller government aka Bill Clinton is out of the window due to the health care bill. In essence Bill Clinton won re-election in 1996 not because of his agenda, it was because the Republicans took the House, thus President Clinton was forced to the centre of politics. President Obama is threfore stuck, his agenda and his own arrgance has placed him an idelogoical box, lets see if he is like Reagan and Clinton and can come back and win, VIEWS has his doubts, Obama was good but he is no Reagan.

New US Troops for Afghanistan ?

CNN: Reports that President Obama could decide on more troops for Afghanistan before the second round election in Afghanistan. This is counter to the view as stated by his Senator John Kerry (D) and the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, what is interesting is that this news came after the critical comments by the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who stated that the US didn’t have the time to wait for second round. It can be argued that Mr Emanuel is a great political operator, he gained the House of Representatives back for the Democrats but he is a lousy Chief of Staff, he is acting like he is back in the Windy City and Washington D.C is some ward that he has to control by fear, does recall the mind set that lead to Watergate. On the domestic front President Obama could declare he is Marxist and that would not on the whole bother me, its what he does on Foreign Policy that is my main concern, thus his sell out of Poland and the Czech Republic on the idea that he had a deal with Russia over sanctions for Iran. That deal didn’t last, Moscow has no real urge to place sanctions on country that it wants to deal with from military to economic. Thus the move by the Obama Administration of late to do a new deal with Poland to place its new missile defence in Poland, also for the VP Biden to fix the impression that Obama would sell out Eastern Europe for fools gold, a deal with Russia. Thus we come back to Afghanistan, the UK will have 9,500 troops in Afghanistan later this year, thus as long as President Obama follows the recommendations of General McChrystal I would not care what he does on the domestic front, as long as he is a hawk in Afghanistan and Iran.

Gates to Obama - MAKE YOUR MIND UP

Fox News: Reports that US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has stated that the US cant wait for the Afghan Election to make its mind up about troop reinforcements for Afghanistan. I guess the Obama Administration is really split, on Sunday we had the Biden supporters on the Sunday talk shows, they argued the Biden argument of no more troops at pressent, in other words scale back and hit Pakistan with drones, the Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel sounded like he wanted to remove troops from Afghanistan not send more, this in in line with the Biden argument, after that to counter that argument we have Defence Secretary Gates who wants to remind the President that Afghanistan cant wait, as with the case with Vietnam it not a matter that lends itself to a Presidential wait and see stand. If Obama wants the good people of Afghanistan to vote again then he should send the troops that will give the people security. Lets hope Obama is not in the pocket of Biden.

The Power of the Message and the Obama White House

Politico: Reports on how the Obama White House sells in message to the voters, it points out the Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel still thinks the New York Times matters in this day and age. Thus we have found the problem for the disaster that was August for Obama, in Mr Emanuel Obama has the wrong Chief of Staff, Mr Emanuel is a great political operator, he turned the Republican House back to the Democrats, that does not make him a good Chief of Staff. The very idea that the Liberal New York Times matters shows a slight miss reading of modern political communication. The Liberal NYT matters if you are an extreme Liberal, but the rest of the country hates the Liberal NYT. If you think that leaking to the Liberal NYT is worth your effort then you are in the wrong job. As suggested to the President in this blog at the start of his Administration he should have appointed James Baker, Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan in the first term, Treasury Secretary in the second term, and Secretary of State to Bush 41. Also he helped get Bush 43 in to the White House in 2000. If health care fails the blame will be down to Mr Emanuel.

Feeding Time in Chicago, Hard Ball Politics at its Best ?

The Times: Reports more trouble from President - Elect Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, the paper of record reports that Emanuel had a few talks with Governor Blagojevich as to who should be the successor to President - Elect Obama. One gets the feeling that this is feeding time at the Zoo, who will bet that Emanuel will still be the Chief of Staff to Obama in January 2009. Its why I love Chicago politics, so brutal and to the point, Obama has a government to form he does not need this distraction, Mr Emanuel should step aside while the legal process is underway in Chicago.

LOVE CHICAGO POLITICS !!

Chicago Sun Times: Reports that Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff to President - Elect Obama is refusing to answer questions concerning the scandal that the Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was trying to sell the Senate Seat of President - Elect Obama. This is time for Obama to show that he is a reformer, he should inform Emanuel that while this legal process is going on with Governor Blagojevich he will ask someone else to be his Chief of Staff. It has to be stressed and underscored that there is no evidence that Emanuel was aware of the illegal plans of the Governor but he was once close to the Governor so was Obama. Obama can no afford to have another Whitewater, lets recall the Impeachment of Bill Clinton had nothing to do with Whitewater but events outside the original scope of that investigation. Thus Obama has to as Reagan did with Iran - Contra, get a new Chief of Staff and move forward.