Daley Out, Lew In: No "Getting-To-Know-You-Period" Necessary for New Chief

Politico Arena Topic: What does departure of Daley mean?

White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley’s imminent departure is not a surprise. Increasingly, he was a lightning rod of criticism both within the White House and on Capitol Hill. His rocky relationship with Senate Democrats and public missteps during the debt ceiling negotiations and over scheduling President Obama’s jobs plan speech to Congress are well documented. In November, some of Daley’s administrative responsibilities were transferred to White House Counselor Pete Rouse, who was the interim chief between Rahm Emanuel and Daley. This move of downgrading the chief’s role—unprecedented in the modern era—signaled that Daley’s grip on the position, and on the White House, was tenuous. From that moment he became a lame duck and it was simply a question of “when” he would depart, not “if” he would depart.

The fact that Daley will leave the White House at the beginning of 2012 rather than closer to the election should be a net positive for the Obama administration. That he is being replaced by Jack Lew, a seasoned White House player with a long history as a Congressional staffer (including a lengthy stint as committee staff for House Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-MA)) and relationships on Capitol Hill, will be very important to improving morale within the White House and repairing the relationship with Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, and company. Lew knows his way around the West Wing, and as OMB Director during the Clinton and Obama administrations, knows a thing or two about budgets. As a current member of the White House, he also has a relationship with President Obama which means a “getting-to-know-you-period” between the President and Chief can be avoided. Finally, as the Obama White House prepares to spend the year slugging it out with Congressional Republicans over budget priorities and the deficit, who better to lead the negotiations than a chief of staff who has been OMB Director for two presidents?

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McConnell's Plan Out of the Wilderness

Politico Arena Topic: Would McConnell Plan Punt Debt Solution?

At least a version of McConnell's plan could potentially pass, though a number of tea party brand House members have indicated that they would not vote to raise the debt ceiling regardless. At this point, some members of Congress view the McConnell plan as the only way out of the wilderness.

If McConnell's plan passed largely intact, it is an ingenious way to allow the country to avoid defaulting at the same time absolving Republicans of any responsibility over raising the debt ceiling by forcing the president to act unilaterally. The 2/3 vote requirement for Congress to reject such presidential moves would virtually ensure that President Obama would be able to raise the debt ceiling while all Republicans could vote against that - and what a gift that would be for the GOP for the 2012 elections. Because of this, I would be stunned if Harry Reid and the White House would support a plan that does not force Republicans to have some skin in the game as well.

President Obama would be better off invoking the 14th Amendment, unilaterally raising the debt ceiling, and using the bully pulpit to tell the country he had to take charge because Congress is dysfunctional and many members are more interested in their own political future than what is good for the American people. It wouldn't be too hard to convince Americans of that considering the events of the last few weeks.

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Trying to Spank the Blue Dog

Former Tennessee football star and NFL quarterback Heath Shuler, a second term congressman, criticized the Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate for a lack of bipartisanship regarding the stimulus bill negotiations. Shuler is a Blue Dog Democrat who represents a conservative district in rural western North Carolina and was one of a handful of Democrats who voted against the package in the House. Shuler was quoted as saying: "In order for us to get the confidence of America, it has to be done in a bipartisan way. We have to have everyone - Democrats and Republicans standing on the stage with the administration - saying 'We got something done that was efficient, stimulative and timely.'...I truly feel that's where maybe House leadership and Senate leadership have really failed."

In a truly sophomoric and pathetic attempt to respond to Shuler's criticism, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's spokesman Jim Manley criticized the Congressman for his observations about the stimulus package as well as his NFL record: "Let me get this straight - this is coming from a guy who threw more than twice as many interceptions than touchdowns?" Politico congressional gossip columnist Glenn Thrush piled on the Congressman: "In four years as an NFL QB -- three with the Redskins, one with the Saints -- Shuler threw 32 INTs while tallying only 15 TDs. Shuler was the third overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft and held out for a seven-year $19 million contract, but completed fewer than half his passes -- with a rock-bottom 54.3 lifetime passer rating. In 2008, ESPN rated him the 4th biggest draft bust in league history."

First, I'm guessing both these guys, Manley and Thrush, never played a team sport past first grade. Sure, maybe they dabbled in karate, or tried skate boarding, maybe belonged to chess club, but certainly never strapped the shoulder pads on, boiled and fit the mouth guard, and slapped on the helmet. I've got some news for you both: Shuler was a tremendously good quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers, one of the powerhouses of college football. Where did you both play? True, his NFL career was short and painful--both literally and figuratively, but the dude still played in the bigs.

Second, if Democrats truly want to be a lasting majority party, you need people like Heath Shuler, as well as Zack Space and John Boccieri of Ohio, and others who have a centrist hue because that's why Dems have such heavy majorities in both houses and that's where the majority of America is--in the middle. Shuler, Space, and Boccieri all won tough contests in their districts because they were centrist Blue Dog Dems--their constituents expect them to buck their party leaders--especially when their party leaders are considerably left of center. Instead of trying to spank the blue dog, Democratic party leaders should include them in their strategy sessions. As for Shuler, Harry Reid may be seeing a lot more of him in the future--he is considering making a run for the Senate seat currently held by Republican Richard Burr.