Clyburn: Rahm Would Make A Great Chief Of Staff

One of the highest-ranking Democrats in the House of Representatives offered an endorsement of his colleague Rahm Emanuel to take over the duties of White House chief of staff.

Speaking to reporters late Tuesday evening, Rep. James Clyburn said that he had "not talked to Rahm" about the talk swirling over a potential post in a Barack Obama administration -- Emanuel was officially offered the job Wednesday morning. But he did think the former DCCC chairman and Clinton staffer would be an ideal fit for the job.

"I think he would make a great Chief of Staff," he said. "He is a very good policy guy and he is tough as nails. And there is a relationship between him and Senator Obama's campaign, they both come out of Chicago...I think he would do well in that job."

Emanuel has been the center of speculation for the chief of staff offer for days now. His knowledge of the process on Capitol Hill and his experiences with Bill Clinton make his resume well-suited. But conservative pundits complain that his renowned brass-knuckle tactics don't fit Obama's message of bipartisanship, and some Democrats worry about his propensity to leak information to the media.

Either way, the job is now his for the taking. And he is reportedly "agonizing" over whether to accept.

As for Clyburn, there have been rumors, too, that he would be tapped for some post in an Obama administration -- though the talk is less intense than that which surrounds Emanuel. The South Carolina Democrat, however, poured some cold water over any such speculation, telling reporters: "I read that speculation too. I have absolutely ruled that out. I have absolutely no interest at all in serving in that administration."

Comments

[Sisto]

Rahm Emanuel an excellent choice! This guy is incredibly the most efficient person in the world where Obama could let Emanuel run the White House with confidence! Obama will have full two plates when he takes power and needs to stay focused on dealing with them.

[showmestategal]

Haold Ford Jr is An awesone young Democrat also!

[nibblybits]

Says who? He's barely a Dem. Look at his stances.

[showmestategal]

Like Henry Ford jr also!

[ElBruce]

Update: MSNBC is reporting that he's accepted it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27554337

[naschkatze]

I just saw on Think Progress that Emanuel has accepted.

[semorg]

With Rahm out Clyburn could have a safe leadership job behind Pelosi.

[mredder4]

I remain confused by this as a career move for Emmanuel. Maybe I just don't keep track of enough people, but how many people that have served as Chiefs of Staff have gone back into a career in the House or Senate? If the man eyes the Speakership as a career goal, how does leaving the House for X number of years serve to accomplish that?

I'm absolutely just curious about it, and am not making any comment about the selection. I just know that I wouldn't take time out of my CPA prep classes to go fill out tax returns at H&R Block.

[castrochavez08]

Good red herring. But the issue remains, why OBAMA would chose an open supporter of the Iraq invasion, one who even asserted it was still right after WMD's were proven not to be there.

It is Obama who needs to explain why such a neocon war supporter is the first guy he hires on.

There sure are a lot of people here finding different ways to explain to us all how this job is so unimportant.

I guess when Donald Rumsfeld held the same job under President Ford and Dick Cheney held the same job under Ford, that they made the most of their "H&R Block" experience.

[nibblybits]

Don't be naive. If he restricted himself to people who voted no to Iraq, he'd only have about 5 people to choose from for his entire staff and Cabinet.

The chief of staff job is very important, the most important of the staff. But it's not a cabinet position, it's an advisory one to the President. Rahm is loyal to Obama; they've known each other for years. Rahm knows the House and the White House. The reasoning is sound. Still unknown is whether Rahm can manage people well and not offend too many.

[BIG JOHN]

I LIKE THE PICK, HOW ABOUT HILLARY AS SEC. OF STATE, GENERAL HORNARAY AS CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS, CRIS MATTHEW OR RACHEL MADDOW AS PRESS SEC.

[Doomestic]

How about... no.

[Glenn1441]

LOL... Ditto.

[thecanadian]

Thank you Sam for your insight throughout! Wish you were here. In the meantime, one of our biggest concerns is that this investigation might be left behind, without further careful & critical examination.
The Alaska Oil Spill Investigation Shut down
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_110308ENB_epa_alaska_spill_LJ.177810bf6.html
Thank you also to everyone at HuffPo.

[darthdarcy]

He's make a great Maitre'd at some Washington Bistro if you ask me..!

[munki]

Count us in...
We do respect McCain...
the better half of the ticket

[ptarantino]

I'd go with Tom Daschle as Chief of Staff & find somebody else to run around playing attack-dog.

[nibblybits]

It's not just that. I'm not sure if Rahm is the right person for the job; he is known to be heavy-handed and abrasive. But the reasoning behind it makes perfect sense. Obama knows that to get his agenda passed he has to make an end-run around Pelosi and Reid if they are not cooperative. He's got Biden to finesse the Senate, he needed a player who could rally the House. Rahm makes sense in that regard. Both he and Biden have a lot of chips with the other Congresspeople, and they also know where the bodies are buried. Chips and a bit of blackmail, carrot and stick.

In that regard, Daschle would be useless having been out of the Senate for several years.

[jtmoney]

I'm so curious who Obama is going to appoint and hire for his cabinet and staff. He has a lot of talent to choose from.

[zendem1]

Rahm knows how to make the trains run. Some times it's good to have an SOB as Chief of Staff because it deflects alot of stuff away from the President. Rahm just might be too big of an SOB for that post however.

[Horst]

Of course chosing him would make everyone in the Arab and Muslim worlds immediately suspicious of Obama given the Emanuel family history in the Irgun and Zionist causes.

[Gemma08]

Disagree. I think it would help shore up support for Obama amongst the Zionists in the US. While the Arabs wont pay too much attention to the WH Chief of Staff. Their focus will be on Obama himself.

[ptarantino]

Emanueal is tough & that is a very good thing, but he stirkes me as a guy with a chip on his shoulder who is going to create & get in a lot of drama & problems with people. He's a political genius, but I see him being a thorn in Obama's side more that a tough, efficent leader.

Obama better stock up on Motrin if he picks Emanueal.