Obama is a brilliant student of presidential history

[theboss]

He's obviously studied the last two Democratic winners and learned from their missteps.

1. What happened to Jimmy Carter?

Carter had huge majorities in the Senate and House. And he couldn't get a damned thing passed. He alienated Tip O'Neil who actually liked working with Reagan more. He micromanaged the hell out of everyone. He split the Southern Dems from Northern Dems. He generally made a mess of things.

So...the solution? Hire Rahm Emanuel.

Why?

Because, first of all, Emanuel gets things done. He knows the legislative process. He knows the executive branch. And I think Nancy Pelosi swoons when she sees him. Plus, at least 50 Democrats owe him for their careers.

But here is the second reason why hiring Emanuel is great. It means that Emanuel won't be in Congress blocking Obama's legislation. Would you rather have a DLCer in the White House pusshing Obama's agenda or in the Congress trying to alter it.

These are brilliant tactics.

2. What happened to Bill Clinton?

Clinton couldn't stop tripping all over himself after election day. It took him damn near a month to get his transition team together. He announced his intentions to find a woman AG and screwed that up twice. He put together a cabinet of people who didn't really like each other. He put the completely overwhelmed DeeDee Myers and George Stephanopolous in jobs they could not handle. He put his wife in charge of his most important piece of legislation. It took him two full years and a disastrous mid-term election to get his staff under control and figure out how to govern. Once he got going, he was masterful, but the first 18 months or so were a horror show.

So, what is Obama doing? He has his transition team in place on Day 1. He has his chief of staff and communications team in place on Day 2. It looks like he will have all his Cabinet selections figured out by December. He is going to hit the White House fully prepared and his staff fully vetted before Christmas.

It honestly looks like they have been preparing for this day since June. Clinton looked like he woke up on the day after the election and said, "Oh damn. I need to run the government now."

This is impressive stuff we are viewing.

[DrPresident]

1. Great read, thanks. That helps me feel better, for real.

[tekisui]

2. I heard he has been studying FDR.

He has been studying why his administration worked and Clinton and Carters either were slow or ineffective.

He knows what he is doing.

[theboss]

5. Every Dem tries to get this "First 100 Days"

Trying to copy Roosevelt is always difficult because Roosevelt had such a mandate and grabbed such sweeping powers.

[AllieB]

3. I agree. This is how he ran his campaign also.

Organization, hitting the ground running-this is truly impressive.

[TahitiNut]

4. It's simpler than that.

Obama knows how to drive for the basket. He plays the key very well.

[OneGrassRoot]

6. Thanks. :) K&R n/t

[monmouth]

7. HuffPo has wonderful pics of Emanuel and his family/brothers...n/t

[tavalon]

8. That's the best explanation I've read yet

I dislike Rahm greatly but this explanation really works for me. And yes, I think that Obama is smart, even smarter than me, and I think I make a fabulous armchair quarterback, smart and astute. But he's smarter and more astute than me and he's not armchairing it, so I will support this, for now. There may come a time when I rescind that support but I suspect it would be around the day after Obama asks for his resignation.

[theboss]

9. I'm kind of a genius

I give good info.

[tavalon]

11. Certainly true in this case. Well spoken and persuasive

Thanks.

[Pithy]

10. Hey, you used the word 'rescind' well

Proof of genius in my book!