Rah Rah Rahm

I'd better admit this from the start: I'm a Rahn Emanuel groupie. I liked him when he was part of the Clinton Administration, and even more when he asserted himself as a Congressman and led that Democratic comeback in 2006. Then I saw him with his equally impressive brothers on Charlie Rose, and it was all over.

Why do I like him so much? First, because he's smart. Second, he's a wily politician with a knack for achieving his goals rather than just blathering on about them and making up excuses for failure. Third, I think he really wants to do good, to make policy that helps ordinary, middle class people and those in the forgotten underclass, who so need a champion. Fourth--and most important, in my current mood--he won't take any guff. (Source for "guff:" eighth grade teacher Sister Mary Alfreda, as in, "Sit there and study the map until you can name the state capitals, and don't give me any of your guff!")

My sister feels the same way about her New York Senator, Chuck Schumer. He's tenacious, she tells me, and won't let the Republican right-wingers push him around. And he takes care of New York. He doesn't back down just because people throw around phrases that seem to paralyze other Democrats, like "east coast intelligentsia," and "do-gooder liberal." Right now she's hoping that he won't let the NFL take her beloved Bills away from Buffalo without a fight.

Rahm strikes me as a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. I believe he won't get distracted from the new Administration's agenda to fight about silly things like the culture wars when the problems we face are so dire.

Earlier in this blog I expressed my hope that President-Elect Obama would demonstrate good judgment in appointing people to positions of power. Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Leon Panetta--wow. My hopes are soaring.

But really, Mr. Obama, the truth is: you had me at Rahm.