Shadow Government: November 6

November 6, 2008

Mac Zilber

“Cabinet Watch” was too dull a name. Shadow government is going to be a periodic article that discusses every notable public decision made by Barack Obama. Skip past Rahm Emmanuel if you already read the Cabinet Watch article.

Barack Obama Chooses Rahm Emmanuel as Chief of Staff

Rahm Emmanuel is probably the most well-known person to be chosen as white house Chief of Staff since at least John Sununu sr. He has a trifecta of experience as a white house staffer, experience as a congressional leader, and experience as a political advisor. On top of it all, he is a reputed policy wonk who will be able to give Obama useful advice, given the fact that he is putatively one of the only people Bill Clinton ever listened to. The fact that he is the current majority whip of the house of representatives means that he should be able to drum up votes in congress, and that he may take on something of a prime ministerial role, which is something that Chiefs of Staff have often done. The fact that Obama would appoint somebody this prominent as his COS indicates that he is likely going to have a star-studded cabinet comprised of people who are anything but yes-men.

How This Decision Looks For Progressives: Rahm Emmanuel is affiliated with Bill Clinton and the moderate DLC, so he isn’t exactly a dream for progressives, but he is progressive on the issues and should be effective in getting Barack Obama’s policies through. If progressives were hoping Obama was going to listen to the netroots and/or appoint Cynthia McKinney as his COS, this is a wake-up call. Still, this is not an inherently bad pick for progressives at all. This also opens the door for Jesse Jackson jr. to be the new senator from Illinois, which otherwise could have been Emmanuel’s role. The very far-left is apparently unhappy with the pick because of the fact that Rahm Emmanuel was one of the first Democratic leaders to start recruiting moderate “blue-dog” Democrats in swing-districts, which has made some progressives quite unhappy.
How This Decision Looks For Moderates: Clintonian moderates will be happy to see a Clinton loyalist as COS, though they probably won’t be thrilled with Rahm, seeing as how he is relatively liberal on social issues. Much like for progressives, this is a choice that won’t make any moderates unhappy, but also won’t thrill moderates either. Some moderates are certainly happy about the pick, however: George Stephanopoulos, who was Bill Clinton’s press secretary, believes that Rahm Emmanuel is a sign that Obama is going to build a centrist coalition.
How This Decision Looks For Conservatives: Conservatives are probably unhappy that somebody who has such close ties to the Democratic house of representatives will have such a prominent role in the Obama administration. Nancy Pelosi is to conservatives what George Bush is to progressives, and many conservatives are taking this as a sign that the Democrats in congress are going to be exercising a lot of power in this administration and that, with two Democratic senators and a Democratic congressional whip running the show over in the white house, the executive and legislative branches are going to fuse together.

Barack Obama Chooses Robert Gibbs As Press Secretary

This pick was a big no-brainer, and didn’t really come as a surprise to anybody. Gibbs was a staffer in Obama’s senate office and a senior official in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign this year. Both Bill Clinton and George Bush tapped top staffers from their campaigns to be their press secretaries, and Barack Obama has done the same thing. Robert Gibbs, like Bill Burton, is a combative press secretary but is generally an amiable and smart guy. He has been around the block as press secretary, as he played this role in John Kerry’s presidential campaign, as well as for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and four individual senate campaigns.

How This Decision Looks For Progressives: Progressives are having a mixed reaction to Robert Gibbs. On the one hand, he’s not a Clinton-affiliated moderate, and he’s a signal that Obama isn’t going to fill his entire cabinet with Clinton officials, but, on the other hand, he is hated by the progressive netroots for his attacks against Howard Dean in 2004. For instance, Markos Moulitsas of the “Daily Kos” famously called Gibbs a “smear-meister best known for his work trashing other Democrats.” It is again a decision that shows Obama is not catering to his base like Bush did.
How This Decision Looks For Moderates: Moderates are probably going to be relatively underwhelmed by the pick, but they probably also realize that Gibbs was the most moderate person Obama could have chosen as press secretary.
How This Decision Looks For Conservatives: Anybody who knows the game knows that the president is going to pick somebody ideologically in tune with themselves for press secretary. Conservatives might be annoyed that Obama would pick a guy who was so combative as his press secretary, and might be annoyed that he’s picking yet another guy with ties to the Democrats’ congressional caucus, but at the same time they’re probably happy that Gibbs was picked rather than Bill Burton, as Bill Burton is more liberal, more intelligent, and more charismatic than Gibbs. Conservatives are also likely relieved that Obama would pick a guy who disliked Howard Dean, as Dean is one of the conservatives’ biggest demons.

Barack Obama Chooses David Axelrod as Senior Advisor

Paul Begala once said that David Axelrod was smarter than himself and Karl Rove combined, and David Axelrod has certainly proven himself to be one of the greatest political strategists in the modern era. He has been a political consultant for nearly 25 years, and was Barack Obama’s chief strategist in both his senate campaign four years ago and his presidential campaign this year. Other notable people he has consulted for include Deval Patrick, who is considered a potential Obama appointee, and Rahm Emmanuel, who is Obama’s next chief of staff. Axelrod is considered to be one of the most important strategists behind the Democrats’ 31-seat-pickup in 2006. One thing that is somewhat questionable about this pick is that it is unknown how much Axelrod does or doesn’t know about actual policy. He’s a smart guy, and I’m sure he’s well informed, but he’s hardly an expert in any particular field except for campaigning. I’m guessing that he’s staying on as a senior advisor for Obama to be a friend and ally for Obama for the next four years, rather than to actually shape his opinions. The other thing that this pick, along with the Emmanuel pick, indicates is that Obama is going to try to maintain some power over Illinois politics while he’s in the white house.

How This Decision Looks For Progressives: Progressives love David Axelrod, and this pick indicates that Obama isn’t going to necessarily completely abandon the progressive base the same way Bill Clinton did. This is the first progressive decision made by Obama, and it may indicate to them that, while Obama always tries to find consensus, he’s not going to completely abandon his views and cede his administration to Clinton officials.
How This Decision Looks For Moderates: It certainly doesn’t look all that bipartisan, but this also isn’t an appointment to a position that actually carries any real power. Axelrod also isn’t necessarily somebody who has expressed his positions on the issues, and having a political strategist as an advisor often means a candidate becomes more moderate, so moderates aren’t displeased with this pick.
How This Decision Looks For Conservatives: It looks like the Illinois political machine is going to be running the country, and that Barack Obama is surrounding himself with congressional Democrats, Clinton officials, and officials of his own campaign, which are, coincidentally, three things conservatives don’t like.

Barack Obama Bans Lobbyists From Serving in His Administration

Barack Obama has announced that if you are a lobbyist, or have been a lobbyist recently, then you will not be able to serve in his administration in the area in which you were lobbying. This will prevent appointments such as Bush’s famous appointment of the head of the beef lobby to be the head of the FDA. This rule, however, is not as sweeping as it could be, as a lobbyist can wait a couple of years after s/he has retired and then serve in his administration, and can also serve in his administration immediately if s/he is appointed to a different area than the area in which they lobbied. The final part of this rule is that an individual who has just left his administration must wait a longer amount of time than they have had to in the past before becoming a lobbyist again.

How This Decision Looks For Progressives: Progressives might be unhappy that environmental lobbyists and the like won’t be appointed, but will be happy overall in this decision. They have seen the damage that a lobbyist-run country can do, and are happy that John McCain’s lobbyist-run campaign isn’t in the white house.
How This Decision Looks For Moderates: Some free-market moderates might be dismayed at these regulations, but most moderates will be happy about the change. Dislike for lobbyists is something that people across the board generally share.
How This Decision Looks For Conservatives: Conservative politicians, who are generally closely tied to lobbyists, will be unhappy about the change, but most conservatives are likely to be happy with this change, as, like I mentioned before, people across the ideological spectrum have a problem with lobbyists getting appointed to government roles. Conservatives may complain about the fact that this reform seems more like a rhetorical flourish than actually a clean-up job, due to the fact that it seems to have too many loopholes for those loopholes to be unintentional.

Check in frequently, as I will attempt to cover every single public decision made by Obama right here at The Muse.

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