President-elect Barack Obama chose fellow Chicago Democrat, Representative Rahm Emanuel, as his chief of staff Thursday. The decision, reported by several media outlets, marks the first personnel choice by Obama as he looks to fill out his cabinet. Much attention is being paid to Obama's transition from Senator to President, as he faces crises on several fronts.
Emanuel, 48, has served in Congress since 2003 and currently serves as the chairman of the Democratic caucus. He is known as one of the more feisty members of the Democratic party, and is referred to as Obama's enforcer. Emanuel is also a staunch Obama supporter.
However, there has been some backlash against the decision, which some have called an indication that Obama is ready to play politics as usual due to Emanuel's tough nature.
In an interview with RTTNews, New England College political science professor Wayne Lesperance said that Emanuel is "not a sound pick," adding that the Illinois Rep. may not be the kind of change some people are looking for.
In addition, House minority leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued a statement following reports of Emanuel's acceptance of the position.
"This is an ironic choice for a President-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center," Boehner said.
Obama is expected to host a press conference Friday morning, when he will unveil new details about his transition. Meanwhile, sitting President George W. Bush has pledged his administration's full cooperation for a smooth transition.
Speaking on the South Lawn of the White House Thursday, the president said he would meet with Obama early next week.
Responding to the president's comments, Obama released a statement saying, "Michelle and I look forward to meeting with President Bush and the First Lady on Monday to begin the process of a smooth, effective transition. I thank him for reaching out in the spirit of bipartisanship that will be required to meet the many challenges we face as a nation."
Wednesday, Obama's camp announced his transition team. The transition will be overseen by three co-chairs in charge of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. They are John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.
Obama's transition team includes advisors to the co-chairs, with people from both the private and the public sectors. The team consists of Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman.
Of those, Gitenstein and Kaufman will serve as co-chairs of Vice President-elect Biden's transition team.
Reflecting on the history of presidential transitions, Lesperance said that most transitions from one administration go very smoothly, though the change over from Bill Clinton to George W. Bush was "really ugly."
However, the historic nature of this election leaves very little room for comparison, Lesperance added.
As for Obama's longer-term choices for his administration, Lesperance said that the selections for his cabinet would tell the American public "a lot about how he is going to govern."
There are "two very different skill sets between running for a president and governing," Lesperance said.
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