Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) new job as President-elect Barack Obama’s chief of staff is a sign Obama will govern as a centrist, bloggers say. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), meanwhile, has no leverage to help him keep his committee chairmanship, according to liberals.
By selecting Emanuel, Obama has sent a message that he may not be in lock-step with the party’s liberals, The Weekly Standard’s Matthew Continetti writes, noting that Emanuel’s fierceness may be directed more at libeal Democrats than at Republicans. Emanuel has close ties to key centrist and conservative Democrats in Congress, and his chief-of-staff nod may be an overture to those wings of the party, Marc Ambinder suggests.
Just because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has not yet come to a decision on Lieberman, that doesn’t mean Lieberman has any power in negotiating with the Democratic leader, MyDD’s Josh Orton warns. After meeting with Lieberman today, Reid said he had not reached a decision on whether Lieberman will keep his Homeland Security Committee chairmanship or membership in the Democratic caucus, and Political Animal’s Steve Benen contends that with 56 Senate seats, Dems don’t need Lieberman like they did in the 110th Congress.
And after the initial surprise of anonymous John McCain aides’ claims that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) didn’t know the members of NAFTA or that Africa is a continent, conservative bloggers doubt the story’s accuracy. Palin must know the basic facts about NAFTA, as it would have had an impact on her husband’s commercial fishing business, Mary Katharine Ham writes at The Weekly Standard, while National Review’s David Frum says there are many possible innocent explanations for not knowing that “South Africa” and “Southern Africa” are different things.
FROM THE BLOGS:
IN THE NEWS:
Emanuel Agrees to Be Obama’s Chief of Staff – The Hill
Bush to Meet with Obama on Monday – Washington Post
Want a Security Post? Say Nothing. – NY Times