High time for the nitty-gritty

The list of Emanuel’s recommendations that Obama ignored, according to Milbank,
is long. To begin with, on national security policy Emanuel knew
Guantanamo Bay couldn’t be closed in a year and that the president shouldn’t promise
to do so. But after siding instead with White House counsel
Greg Craig, whom he later let go, Obama fell into his
very first self-imposed trap. That deadline, to close the prison by
Jan. 22, 2010, passed a month ago today, and the settling of the question
of the 200 detainees who remain is not even close to being resolved.
 
Emanuel also argued against plans to hold a civilian trial for Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed in New York City, and that hasn’t turned out so well for the
administration, either. Most importantly, Emanuel counseled the president to work
to pass incremental healthcare reform, and the president instead chose a
massive overhaul that threatens Democratic control of the House and Senate and
possibly his own reelection in 2012.
 
“Early on Emanuel argues for a smaller bill with popular items,
such as expanding health coverage for children and young adults, that
could win some Republican support. He opposed the public option as a needless
distraction,” writes Milbank. “Had it gone Emanuel’s way, a
politically popular health-care bill would have passed long ago, leaving plenty
of time for other attractive priorities, such as efforts to make college more
affordable. We would have seen a continuation of the momentum of the first
half of 2009, when Obama followed Emanuel’s strategy and got 11
substantive bills on his desk before the August recess.”
 
Obama ignored the lessons Emanuel learned when working for President
Bill Clinton, that “big-sized proposals add up to big things,” writes
Milbank. Why did Obama sideline the man he chose to
be chief of staff? Because, Milbank argues, his other confidants — Valerie
Jarrett, David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs — are “part of the cult of Obama.
In love with the president, they believe he is a transformational figure
who needn’t dirty his hands in politics.”
 
Looks like it’s time to get dirty.
 

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