Susan Sher Named First Lady's New Chief Of Staff In East Wing Shakeup

WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama is replacing her chief of staff with a longtime friend and adviser from Chicago.

Jackie Norris will become a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Replacing Norris as chief of staff will be Mrs. Obama's longtime friend Susan Sher. Sher joined the administration as an associate counsel to the president. Sher and Mrs. Obama worked together at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Norris worked on the president's campaign in Iowa.

Norris will continue to work with the first lady's office and the administration as it implements a new law to expand national community service programs.

Comments

[Marcospinelli]

To all of the slavishly devoted Obama supporters, who insisted that Michelle Obama's CoS wasn't fired or that the Obama administration wasn't going to use Michelle Obama's popularity to intervene when Barack Obama's own numbers and popularity with the liberal base of the Democratic Party began to flag (to help sell policies and nominations that aren't populist or liberal or as Obama purports), TOLD YOU SO:

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090624/NEWS02/706249602

[cajungal]

The very first thing Susan Sher will have to do each morning is pick out Michelle's outfit for the day so that Mrs. Obama will stop appearing in public dressed as a teenager and a total embarassment to the entire nation. Michelle Obama needs a Professional Dresser since she has NO SENSE OF STYLE WHATSOEVER.

[SGRS]

I don't understand these comments. The chief of staff is similar to an executive's right hand person. That person must know the executive so well that they can speak for them when the executive is not available. After several months, Mrs. Obama would know if she had the right person in the job. Apparently, she did not. In "West Wing", the advice to anyone who wants to be President is that they need to choose a friend of many years who they [the President] believe to be the smartest person they know and make that person their chief of staff. Why wouldn't that be the same for the First Lady?

[Nitalia]

I agree with all of you on this post! Michelle shoudl have a friend she should trust as her Chief. Obama is using a lot of Harvards and Chicagoans and friends in high post! Michelle is not angry and she is not ugly. The good things is, we all get to blog!

[Oldtt]

This is pretty much a non-story, but it reminds me of another First Lady who decided to replace the WH travel office staff with people she had worked with at the state level. The ousted personnel complained to friends in the press and Congress, and it turned into a major scandal known popularly as Travelgate. I guess the loyal opposition can't think of a way to spin this event.

[blairtone]

we care?

[Howzat]

Good olde buddy system at work again.

[DubyaGump]

The republicans perfected it.

[samuelberg]

Last time I checked, Chicago style politics was all about the dims.

[PwnedByJesus]

Buddy system? Ha ha. Are you upset about that? It's only been the backbone of business (including politics) for thousands of years. Get over it.

[Oldtt]

Not that it applies in this case, but the "system" you mention includes meritless promotion, graft, nepotism, gender bias, and the ever-present Peter Principle. All good things we should just get over.

[marley22]

Shakeup implies being forced to leave/resign. Nowhere in the story does this come across.
HP needs a shakeup in its headline writers.

[steve-annie]

Really ... they're getting worse by the day!

[expired]

what do you mean? You wonder what the scoop is A from C? Explain.

[expired]

Scrappy just crapped on himself/herself. What a t@@l.

[AnnfromCA]

Wonder what the scoop is on this?

[bygollymissmolly]

Why does there have to be a "scoop". It's simply a re-shuffling of staff. It's done all the time.

[expired]

ok, so how is this a shake up?

[munki]

WRONG headliner

[alwqb]

"Shake up" would hardly describe a staff member moving to another job in the White House. I would expect this on Fox Nation along with the Michelle hating gross comments.

Why does the right keep bringing up the color issue? Haven't you learned by now that most Americans just don't care to listen to this blatant racism?

Your children and grandchildren should be embarrassed for the racism you live by. When will the right start seeing people as people, after all, we are all the same.

[Furby]

Did you know you can click on Reply so your post will address Shake Up's post directly. Right now, we have no clue what this poster said prior to your reply. He's on another page altogether.

[FROGi]

lol

[shela88]

The First Lady's Chief Of Staff was promoted , probably due to her employer's efforts and will remain involved.. Why not leave the nitpicking and misleading reportage to Fox News..They do it better.

[ddDinah]

You must admit there are quite a few from Chicago. Obama has made statements about how the American people have lost trust in their government and then he selects from a pool of people of which statements have been made about how close they have been to the Obamas thru the years and feel they can trust....

[amistad]

You need to go to the fox news boards with your nonsense.

[deeppeace]

Yeah. So much smarter to hire people you don't know.

[chitown8]

First there is nothing wrong with folks from Chicago. Second better have folks you can trust beside ones that stab you in the back right?

[Scorch20]

Leave it to Huff P0 for the over the top headlines. But in any case this is just another case of cr0ny!sm. The people being hired by this administration is not better than then the process in which BUSH and the rest have used. Nep0t!sm or cr0ny!sm. These are people from Chicago, Harvard, Yale and the Republicans(why) yet the change is only recycling the Clintonites and the Daley's cronies. I guess there are no other qualified people that live in this country and natural b0rn citizens. On this administration there are f0re!gn b0rn appointed to positions over natural. But people are still drinking the k00l a!d. See, if you are not somehow related or worked in Daley's p0litics you are basically a long stand in. You may get a sh0.t or you may not.

[amistad]

Run for President and win. Then you can hire anyone that you want.