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LEGISLATOR-IN-CHIEF.
One of the themes I've been trying to push lately is that the success of Obama's presidency is dependent on his ability to navigate an increasingly dysfunctional Congress, and that the ability to pass bills through the institution requires pretty fair knowledge of how it works and pretty good relationships with the key players. Clinton didn't have that. He entered office and showed very little respect for congressional expertise, surrounding himself with trusted associates from Arkansas and young hotshots from his campaign. Obama is not making the same mistake. He's surrounded himself with Gephardt and Daschle advisers, elevated Rahm Emanuel to chief of staff, and just named Phil Schiliro to be the administration's point person on legislative affairs. Schirilo was previously Henry Waxman's chief of staff, and as Marc Ambinder says, was "known as one of the savviest, smartest chiefs of staffs in DC." He also served as policy director to Tom Daschle, which only furthers the odd rebirth of the Daschle team within the Obama administration.
COMMENTS (7)
Would have been nice if all these top notch Gephardt and Daschle advisers could have prevented their bosses from getting worked repeatedly.
How bright can you be if you lost to BushCo ever time out.
Posted by: gimme your lunch money | November 16, 2008 1:54 AM
only as good as your boss.
Posted by: raft | November 16, 2008 3:58 AM
You've got a couple of things wrong there: When Clinton took office, the only Democrats with White House experience were from the completely discredited Carter administration. Otherwise, the Democrats had not controlled the White House since Johnson. Obama, on the other hand, can draw on the extremely successful Clinton White House team. Also, in 1992 many of the most important congressional committees were run by right-wing southern Democrats who had no interest in helping the president succeed. The current Democratic leadership (except Lieberman) realize that their success is tightly connected to Obama's
Posted by: Paul Gottlieb | November 16, 2008 9:19 AM
Paul G: what is it that you are referring to when you say "the extremely successful Clinton White House team"? My (vague) recollection of the Clinton years are of a period in which the White House regularly got spanked or, at best, managed break-even compromises.
Posted by: Jonathan | November 16, 2008 11:23 AM
mmmmmm. the sweet smell of competence and relevant experience baking in the morning.
nobody is required to be doomed by historical experience, especially if one knows the history.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | November 16, 2008 2:36 PM
"the odd rebirth of the Daschle team within the Obama administration"
Uhhh. Yeah. Because that team worked out so well the last time. This is the crowd that looked at LBJ and said, with their actions rather than their words, "well, there's a guy who knows nothing about the Congressional process! WE know better. Watch!"
Posted by: seeker6079 | November 16, 2008 7:52 PM
All true, and makes we wonder why we put such a premium on "Executive Experience" and look at experience working in the Congress and almost a handicap. It seems that any president with any kind of legilative agenda will need to know how to deal with the Congress.
Posted by: TurkoAmericano | November 17, 2008 4:28 AM