Does Republican Representative John Boehner, the in-the-dumps House minority leader, have a point when he criticizes President-elect Barack Obama for tapping Democratic Representative Rahm Emanuel to be his White House chief of staff? Boehner says:
This is an ironic choice for a President-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center.
Boehner misunderstood–or is now, for political gain, misrepresenting–Obama’s call for cooperation and productivity in Washington as a vow to govern from the center. The policy proposals Obama presented during the campaign were mostly progressive. Hey, doesn’t Boehner remember that Obama was blasted as an anti-American liberal and socialist by Boehner’s fellow GOPers? They didn’t seem to believe he was going to govern from the center.
Despite the isn’t-he-supposed-to-be-a-centrist spin, Boehner is not incorrect in noting that Emanuel is not known as a nonpartisan agent of change in Washington. As the leading fundraiser for Democrats in the House in the 2006 election, Emanuel, a fierce partisan, did do much to change Washington by winning the House back for the Democrats. But he’s a walking advertisement for how Washington does business (see here and here)–as is the less-successful Boehner.
By selecting Emanuel as first big appointment, Obama teed up the this-ain’t-really-change ball for Boehner. And Boehner whacked it down the fairway. On Friday, Obama is slated to hold a meeting with his top economic advisers. The speculation is that afterward he may have something to say about other appointments. Obama believers ought to hope he doesn’t again make it easy for Boehner.