Republican Lindsey Graham Praises Rahm Emanuel Appointment
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Republicans
Very gracious of Graham to say, especially when Republicans are already spinning this.
“This is a wise choice by President-elect Obama.“Rahm knows Capitol Hill and has great political skills. He can be a tough partisan but also understands the need to work together. He is well-suited for the position of White House Chief of Staff. I worked closely with him during the presidential debate negotiations which were completed in record time. When we hit a rough spot, he always looked for a path forward. I consider Rahm to be a friend and colleague. He’s tough but fair. Honest, direct, and candid. These qualities will serve President-elect Obama well.
“Rahm understands the challenges facing our nation and will, consistent with the agenda set by President-elect Obama, work to find common ground where it exists. I look forward to working with him in his new position and will continue to do everything I can to help find a pathway forward on the difficult problems facing our nation.”
One thing that everybody has to understand about Emanuel is that while he has definitely been a partisan warrior in the past, he worked tirelessly to find centrist Democrats who could win in the 2006 midterm elections. So he not only acknowledges the need for Dems to move closer to the middle, he can build consensus within this group when it comes time to pass key legislation.
All in all, I think the appointment is good news for a more moderate agenda.
More as it develops…
This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Republicans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
One thing I wonder about is if Obama actually keeps Dems in line and they stay with center-left agenda where does that leave the GOP? Is there even room for a center-left and a center-right party? I mean I would love that but I wonder if it’s possible or would most moderates just go Dems and the GOP gets stuck in the wilderness as a conservative opposition party that doesn’t win many seats or the general election.
November 8th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
[...] Republican Senator Lindsey Graham praised the pick, other conservatives pointed out that the Emanuel doesn’t exactly signal an end to partisan [...]