what is all the hate for Emanuel really about?

[cali]

Is it just easier to blame him for stuff rather than Obama? Seriously folks, Rahm Emanuel is not running the country. If he's not strong arming dems on the public option, it's because his boss isn't directing him to do that.

[BlooInBloo]

1. A variety of things - one or two of which I might even agree with...

But far and away the #1 reason: he's viewed as an "acceptable" proxy for Obama-bitching.

[cali]

3. yep, it's the acceptable proxy thing.

[cliffordu]

20. Yep - right again.

You're running about 35-0 these days. New cocktails???

[BlooInBloo]

22. The summer gin n tonics are done - moved back to the fall porter. Guess it has an effect.

[cliffordu]

26. I know what you mean, I'm off the heavy anti-psychotics and am self

medicating with Ibogaine and some south american root hallucinogen my witch doctor/pool boy deals.

[NYC_SKP]

28. "Your" pool boy?

You know that Federico used to be MY pool boy until you lured him away.

How was I gonna compete with unlimited access to your Mad and Teen Beat magazine collections???

You scallywag.

x(

[cliffordu]

29. A scallywag is what I am....

:rofl:

[Starry Messenger]

2. I have a theory.

People don't know what do with all that hate for Karl Rove and have remapped it on the current guy.

[Captain Hilts]

4. It's 'if you approve of a policy, praise FDR, if you oppose it, blame Eleanor' all over again.

FDR: A great system!
ER: Yeah, right...
FDR: What the hell, old girl, I was voted Greatest Man of the Century and you Greatest Woman. We must have done something right...

[ProSense]

5. Blame Obama instead of blaming Rahm, um, for what?

None of you know what the hell is going on behind the scenes. Support for a public option has grown significantly so what exactly are people complaining about?

[cali]

6. uh, it's pretty clear that Emanuel doesn't make policy but quite a few

around here act as if he's really some puppeteer manipulating Obama.

[saracat]

8. That is totally true.

[saracat]

7. No doubt about it, Emmanuel was Obama's choice. And Obama himself said it was one of the

most important appointments he would make.I think it is that Emmanuel comes with baggage, and isn't reputed to be a "nice guy". He has the rep of a nasty Chicago pol. I must say though I have met him a couple of times and he was charming, though i likely agree with him on almost anything.

People "want" to believe the best of Obama.They "want" to believe the worst of Emmanuel.
What is really odd to me are the repeated assertions Obama is in complete control at the same time they assert that Emmanuel is calling the shots.

I opposed the appointment of Emmanuel, but I never thought anyone but obama made the appointment.

[movonne]

9. Maybe it is because he is responsible for putting many blue

dogs in office...also he went after Dean for putting in progressives...a big thanks to Dean or this could be worse...and also he rahm is a pretty much a dlc thinker...maybe you remember him going after dean right after the election...

[Canuckistanian]

21. I think that's it

Many progressive candidates never saw the light of day while Rahm was running things.

He's far too "third way" for many of us here.

[DJ13]

10. Good cop, bad cop

People like Obama, but they dont like Rahm.

[Orsino]

11. The president isn't running the country, either.

But I know which one of them shows more attachment to politics-as-usual.

[ieoeja]

12. He's a neo-Lib. And he accepted credit for Dean's 2006 success.

The DLC/DOG excuse has always been, "but a Liberal would never win in that district." If that really is the rule, then Rahm is the exception that makes it. Because IL-05 is a screaming Liberal district.

Which begs the question: if a man like Rahm could be elected in IL-05, why can't a Liberal be elected in IL-08? Why did Rahm's hand-picked, neo-Lib IL-08 candidate, do worse in an open race than the Liberal candidate did the previous election cycle against a Conservative incumbent?

There are reasons some of us suspect the neo-Libs as being wolves in sheep's clothing.


And then there was Dean. Rahm sided with the neo-Libs who did everything they could to undermine Dean while he ran the Democratic Party (and doesn't that by definition mean they were undermining the Democratic Party?). He was furious with Dean for "wasting" money running candidates in all House districts instead of following the DLC "winnable district" strategy. Had we won every seat Rahm targetted as winnable, and not "wasted" our resources running in the other districts, Republicans would have retained their majority.

So it is a matter of fact, not opinion, that Rahm was wrong and Dean was right. But when the election was over, all the DLC pundits praised Rahm the hero and derided Dean the loser. Up was down, down was up, and Rahm happily took the credit.

I was shocked when I went into the 2006 and 2008 primaries and didn't see a primary challenger to Rahm as there is a substantial DFA presence in this district.


To those of us in IL-05, there is the added factor of his being one of Daley's bitches. This district was the last anti-Daley stronghold in Chicago. Here, old school, old-man Daley, pro-Labor, pro-government type Democrats had dominated. Rahm represents the new school, young-man Daley, anti-Labor, anti-government Democrats who have taken control.

Of course, IL-05 also gave the party Rod Blagojevich. So our batting average has been pretty poor of late.

Rahm's replacement is kind of interesting. He is pretty neo-Lib in his politics. But the neo-Lib establishment hate him. The only thing I can figure is that Quigley is probably honest. He likely wants to cut government to save money. While the neo-Libs (and neo-Cons) end up privatizing everything in the name of saving money, but which in reality costs the taxpayers more money for less service, with the excess going as profits into the hands of the neo-Libs (and neo-Cons).

The neo-Libs (and neo-Cons) found a way to avoid a repeat of the Teapot Dome scandal. They made it fucking legal! So we have a thousand equivalencies of the Teapot Dome scandal going on as we speak, but it's now no longer a scandal.

[mopinko]

30. just a couple nit picks.

i think you are referring to the race in cd 6, not 8.
and cd 9 is the most liberal cd in chicago. 5 has the big money people, and has been the district of big money for a long, long time, sops to the hardworking folks of the northwest side notwithstanding.

as the head of the dccc in 2006, rahm made a fucking mess of things with his corporate toads and his "fighting dems", which was a pack of lies. they weren't leaders, they were good soldiers who knew how to take orders.

[bvar22]

13. I "disliked" Rahm long before I knew who Obama was.

I STILL dislike Rahm with a passion....not because he is a tough guy.
I dislike him for his politics.
Rahm is the enforcer for the DLC.


He has always been a Free Trading corporate minded triangulator.
Rahm, and his policy of installing Republicans in positions of power (DCCC) in the Democratic Party, has done more damage to the Democratic Party than the Republicans.


"Centrism"....for people who are 1/2 Republican.
Unlike Rahm, I'm ALL Democrat.

[Captain Hilts]

14. Actually, Hillary hated him too. nt

[jesus_of_suburbia]

16. I knew that, yet some on DU keep associating the 2. It's Barack who's buddies with Rahm.

[Stardust]

27. "Rahm, and his policy ...has done more damage to the Democratic Party than the Republicans."

"Rahm, and his policy of installing Republicans in positions of power (DCCC) in the Democratic Party, has done more damage to the Democratic Party than the Republicans."

I suspect you're correct. Just something about that guy I don't trust. My rat-meter pegs out when I see him.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

15. What is all the hate for Satan really about?

Satan obviously exists at the behest of an all powerful God yet gets blamed for all sorts of stuff that is as much God's doing as Satan's.

Eternal scapegoat, needed to maintain a fantasy of perfection in the face of incoming evidence from our highly imperfect reality.

If Rahm didn't exist he would have to be created.

[IndianaGreen]

17. LOL

You are so right on so many points.

:-)

[backscatter712]

18. He's Obama's "bad cop".

When Obama's pondering something unpopular, he sends Rahm to float the idea around and mess around with Congress, just to see how voters and Congresscritters react.

[Feron]

24. That's how I see it.

Rahm's job is to deflect criticism off of Obama.

[fadedrose]

19. For me it's simple...

He and Howard Dean don't see eye to eye on much.

Anybody who doesn't like Howard Dean has to be on my S#t! list...

[Dr Fate]

23. He's DLC, and is probably giving Obama the typical DLC type advice.

And if Rahm is anything like the DLCers here at DU, that means either ignoring or scapegoating "the far left" and cozying up to conservatives in order to "look moderate" whenever possible. It means attacking or ignoring the Liberal base (and even ignoring moderates who happen to agree with Liberals) in an effort to "look centrist."

DLCers do not want a progressive party- they want a "majority party"- and if that means being conservative or even 100% wrong on the issues (see Iraq), so be it. Problem is that you do not have to do that to be in the majority. In the case of Iraq, it did not even work- we still lost 2 elections in a row despite our "centrist" posturing.

You can win AND have convictions that you stick with- and I doubt Rahm or the average DLCer feels that way. I could be wrong.

Part of it is laziness, or maybe even cowardice. It's just easier to go along with conservatives than to fight them.

I perceive too much of the 90's era "3rd Way" thinking going on, and I'd like to think Obama would go the right way if he had more Liberals & moderates (I mean real moderates- not DLC/Joe Lieberman types) on his staff...

Would you be happier if more people just came out and just blammed Obama?

[madfloridian]

25. Because...

at a time that we were all feeling so good about the election, two things happened close together.

When Kaine's DNC chairmanship was announced...Dean was not invited to be at the press conference. In fact he did not know about it, and he was out of the country in American Samoa keeping his promise as chair to visit all territories and states. You do not hold an event to announce the new chair and not invite the old one.

When Obama announced Rahm as chief of staff it sent a message to the liberals in the party where we were heading.

[PassingFair]

32. I am anxiously awaiting Blago's trial...those taped conversations with Rahm will have to be admitted

...as evidence.

It will be BAD for our party, but it
will answer the OP's question of why
Emanuel is reviled by people who put
country over party.

[Jennicut]

31. Rahm is a polarizing person, he has faught with Dean, he is DLC, and people don't want to blame

Obama for anything they might not like...the man is that likable.