Do You Remember…
By Mitch Berg
…when the “convential wisdom” among the not-conventionally-wise was that “Dick Cheney ran the Bush administration?”
As in all things – remember Berg’s Seventh Law.
Because Rahm Emanuel would seem to be the real thing:
The caricature of Mr. Emanuel as a profanity-spewing operative has given way to a more nuanced view: as a profanity-spewing operative with a keen understanding of how to employ power on behalf of a new president with relatively little experience in Washington.
Although relentlessly deferential to the president, Mr. Emanuel is clearly more chief than staff. While some predecessors husbanded their authority, lest it be diluted, friends said he believed the more someone used power, the more power that person had.
He knows how to pull all the levers of influence in Washington — raising money, mobilizing interest groups and harvesting the latest policy ideas from research groups. At the same time, his relentless campaign-style approach sometimes leaves some colleagues worried they spend too much time reacting to events.
The whole thing is worth a read.
