Rahmbo

I'm more than a little iffy on the choice of Rahm Emmanuel as chief of staff. It's not necessarily a bad one, I'm just cautious. There's still a big part of me that wants to believe in Obama's misty-eyed talk about bipartisan consensus-building, which I'm aware is me willfully greasing the lens. I want to see an GOP in the opposition so stymied by reason and cooperation that they have no choice by to go along with it. Rahm Emmanuel is the man who once said that the translation of his first name from Hebrew was "go screw yourself" and (on an unrelated occasion) mailed a dead fish to a pollster he didn't like. The word "conciliatory" is not in his vocabulary. He's widely said to be aiming for the ultimate goal of Speaker of the House, which I think is quite telling: he only has to be elected by a small, hardcore Democratic part of the country and then maneuver his way into power through patience and intraparty negotiation. He knows that his dubious "charm" won't play to a broader national audience, so he goes about achieving national prominence through the back door. Part of me laments this choice because after all of the graciousness in John McCain's concession speech about backing the new president, this is just a big "go screw yourself" to anyone on the right who might have taken that seriously.

And then there's the part of me with no grease on the lens. Rahm Emmanuel, for as much of a prick as he may be (sorry, but it's true), is an incredibly smart guy, and will not rest until he's gotten his way. He knows how to organize people and he knows how to get people to do what they promise. The man gets results. And for all of this talk of reaching across the aisle, John Boehner and his lot will not be any less obnoxious in their pursuits just because Barack Obama is President. On the contrary, they will be far more obnoxious. As such, Obama will need a highly organized team under him, which I have no doubt Emmanuel will provide, and he will need a hatchet man to play hardball with anyone who doesn't succumb to bipartisan sweet-talk. I think Obama has a sharp edge to him that doesn't really come out in public, and I think it will serve him well as president. But he needs someone on his side who will be a pitbull (with neither lipstick nor a hockey stick) to beat down the hardcore opposition and make it easier to work with the more reasonable elements of the GOP.

On a practical level, this is probably a great choice. I'm just not sure if it's the change we were promised.

*Apologies to all of my friends from Sarah Lawrence who are so gung-ho to see one of their own get so far. I'm just trying to appraise this as honestly as I can.