Scott Horton has added himself to the list of those pointing the fickle finger at Rahm Emanuel. But unlike folks like Michael Moore, Horton is paying attention to Rahm's actual job (my emphasis):
Most of the controversy surrounding Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, has focused on his management of policy issues. As all political advisors do, he has prioritized initiatives based on his assessment of the risks and benefits to his president of championing them. Less often discussed, however, is a more objective test of Emanuel’s competence: has he succeeded in getting the president’s nominees through their confirmation process? Few tasks are more important than this one, as was well understood by Andrew Card and Karl Rove, who put considerable energy into providing the essential White House “push through.”Horton calls this result "inexplicable" and a failure of management by Senate leaders Reid and Leahy as well. But the bulk of his scorn goes to Emanuel, for not doing his actual job.
By this test, Emanuel has been an abject failure. Consider the appointment of federal judges. Few things count more towards a president’s “legacy” than this, since judges have lifetime tenure. But, as the Associated Press shows in a study published this weekend, under the first two years of Barack Obama’s presidency, the G.O.P.’s already strong grip on the federal judiciary has actually tightened[.]
And this is the guy who wants to run Chicago? I'm not sure he can run his own bathwater.
(First Read also has some First Thoughts on Mayor Rahm.)
GP
