September 8, 2010
WHO GETS TO BE THIS GENERATION'S DAVID GERGEN?:
The coming war among Dems (Greg Sargent, September 8, 2010, Washington Post)
There's been a lot of consternation on the Internets about the possibility that the White House may pick a Republican to succeed Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff, as a good-faith bipartisan gesture towards the GOP. It's an interesting discussion, as far as it goes.But all the chatter over Rahm's replacement really reflects something far larger than speculation over White House personnel. It's the first hint of what's to come after the Dems' expected November bloodbath: An intra-party war among Dems over the real significance of the results, and over how Dems should recalibrate in response. And that battle isn't going to be pretty.
The specter of a Republican replacing Rahm, which seems perfectly possible, is irking liberals because it's a clear hint that some Beltway Dems are already primed to interpret Dem losses through a standard Beltway prism. The Dem shellacking simply must mean that Obama overread his mandate and undertook an agenda that was too partisan, too ambitious, and -- worst of all -- too liberal. His only hope of salvation is to tearfully confess to liberal overreach, go through a big public staff shakeup, dramatically scale back his ambitions, and engage in some genuine bipartisanship -- all for the Beltway media's consumption.
It doesn't matter that he pick a Republican, it does that he pick someone with the executive experience he so conspicuously lacks. If he wants both he could hire Mayor Bloomberg.
