Emanuel, a hard nosed political insider has a reputation of playing hardball to get things done. One senior Obama aid explained the potential choice: “Obama wants a bad cop, so he can be good cop 90 percent of the time.”
Emanuel is considered a political centrist, and has went on numerous occasions against liberal othrodoxy with center right positions on anti-crime measures, and welfare reforms.
Emanuel also has a good relationship with many republican representatives.
Obama, with a strong democratic majority in the Senate and House, and now a cutthroat “get-things-done” political insider as his chief of staff, looks to be in the catbird seat for getting things he wants done quickly, efficiently, and without much objection.
Whether this is a good or bad thing will be seen in the coming months.
One final note: I recently found out that Rahm Emanuel served in the Israeli Defense Force and even knows a little bit of hebrew. Should be a welcome bit of news for all the zionists out there (me included).
November 5th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
So is this change we can believe it? Clearly, those of us who live in places like Palestine can expect more terrorism.
November 5th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
If you’d care to actually look at the events that are occurring in Israel now, i.e. daily volleys of quassam rockets being fired into Israeli cities and towns, you’d see that the only terrorists are those who live in Palestine.
November 5th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Regardless of who his Chief of Staff is, this man is different. He doesn’t assume that one side is right he understands that there are two sides to each issue. He is a “mature” politician even though he is young. He understands that Palestinians do not hate Israel for no reason and that the same goes for Israel. He won’t be a saber rattler; he will bring both sides to the table, figure out what each wants, and make an appropriate compromise. I am a firm zionist and proud Jew and I have absolutely no qualms about the way this man will preform in regards to Israel and other compromises.
November 7th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Talk about Orwellian doublespeak! Palestinians and their naive anti-Semitic propagandists now complain about terrorism!? Gabriel Rom is absolutely right in pointing out the reality rather than the perverted fantasies on Ms. Newman’s website. As that great Israelis prime minister, Golda Meir said, “we will have peace only when the Arabs love their children more than they hate the Jews.” May I also add that there will be no peace as long as there are cynical self styled “scholars” such as Ms. Newman promoting her vile views. Unfortunately there are no signs of any of any moderation from these despicable human beings. So Israel will continue being forced to fight their justified defensive war.