I decided to make my return post about my latest man crush, Rahm Emanuel. For those of you who don't know him very well, here is a little info. Emanuel is the current White House Chief of Staff. He was a four term Congressman and was the chair of the DCCC during the 2006 mid-term elections when the Democrats regained control of the House. He was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and he has spent the majority of his professional life in public service. He helped get Paul Simon elected in 1984 and went on to be national campaign director for the DCCC in 1988, after which he back senior advisor and chief fundraiser for Richard Daley's victorious campaign for Mayor of Chicago in 1989. Emanuel moved on to become director of finance for Bill Clinton during his 1992 campaign and crafted the strategy that helped Clinton win the Democratic Primary. After Clinton was elected, he became a senior advisor in the Clinton Administration. In 2002 he was first elected to Congress. Emanuel is now probably the most powerful and influential person in America.
So why the man crush? Well first off, he was my dream job. I am not sure anything professional could top becoming White House Chief of Staff. That position is easily the most powerful position in the entire world. He basically sets the agenda for the country and the President carries it out. Now, I am sure every White House is different, but undoubtably Emanuel has a great deal of influence in shaping this country. Also, he has the job that was once held by one Leo Thomas McGarry. McGarry for course was the Chief of White on the West Wing. John Spencer played what could be argued to be the greatest character ever on television.
But the real reason for the man crush is the Emanuel is just the type of guy that you look at and can tell that he won't take any shit from anyone. He always looks like he is thinking about how to win at something and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He is also a no-nonsense kind of guy. He tells you what to do and you do it, or else. My favorite President of all time is Lyndon Johnson. Johnson was the kind of President (probably more so as a Senator) that stood over you and told you what to do and even if you didn't want to, you still thanked him for letting you do it. Emanuel, like Johnson, tells you do something and you do it with the hope that they may someday remember your name.
Emanuel also doesn't really seem to like doing stuff that he feels is beneath him. I watched him on Larry King Live the other night and it just seemed like he couldn't wait to get out of there. King would ask him a question and Emanuel would smirk and start to answer the question the way that he wanted to, then remember that he is White House Chief of Staff and he gave the answer he was supposed to. You could just tell that he wanted to rip his tie and jacket off and go to work. The best comparison that I can think of is when Phil Hartman player Ronald Reagan on SNL. He was nice and sweet when there were people around and then an attack dog when it was just him and his staff.
I am man enough to admit when I have a man crush and this is a serious man crush.
FYI: Fantasy baseball draft this weekend, so you can expect a few blogs relating to that issue, so stay tuned.
After reading 4 sentences I knew that the West Wing and Leo Thomas McGarry would be mentioned somewhere in this piece. Well done ... Toby can't get any love?
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of a White House Chief of Staff, I think of the guy on 24. I can't remember his name because the only name you need to know on that show is Jack Bauer.
ReplyDeleteMan enough to admit you have a man crush or liberal enough?
ReplyDelete