Fresh White House chief of staff Rouse faces big obstacle

Senior White House adviser Rouse has been announced as the successor to Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff. Known as a level-headed pragmatist with a knack for defusing turmoil, Rouse is a stark contrast to the mercurial Emanuel, whose reputation for political brawling can be useful in the race for mayor of Chicago. The consensus in political circles is that Rouse has taken on what might be an unrewarding headache for the remainder of Obama’s term if Republicans come out ahead within the November elections.

'Anti-Rahm’ is Pete Rouse’s nickname

President Obama announced Friday that White House chief of staff was going to be taken over by Rouse. He said Rouse was a “skillful problem solver” which is why he got the position. Sheryl Gay Stohlberg of the New York Times said Rouse was virtually unknown outside the White House, however he has been really influential within it. Stohlberg wrote that “Rouse is the anti-Rahm.” While Emanuel was flamboyant, profane and larger than life, Rouse is intensely private and works behind the scenes. Rouse was chief of staff for previous Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and ran Obama’s senatorial office. Next he went with Obama into the White House in order to be a senior advisor. He is really close to the president, most say.

It’s a hard govt job

Emanuel may be hard for Pete Rouse to try and replace now. Even before Rouse was officially called to the position, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post said he had “the worst week in Washington” because of how much is facing the White House right now. Rouse is “stepping into the hardest job in govt at one of the hardest times imaginable.” That is what Milbank believes. Democrats are likely to lose several of their seats in the November elections. The next two years of rule making will be really hard. Obama may not be able to follow his agenda.

Be warned the wrath of Palin

Pete Rouse has already done something wrong. That is what Sarah Palin thinks. As soon as the rumor of Rouse replacing Emanuel came up, Palin starting tweeting all sorts of innuendo, accounts CNN. Cable News Network explains that Palin is mad about the yearly dividend Rouse has tried to get. He kept is voting registration in Alaska in order to get it. Alaska’s Permanent Fund dividend records do not show Rouse on there at all. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Palin’s accusations “fairly silly.”.

I read this here:

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/10/01/us/politics/01rouse.html?_r=2

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/01/AR2010100103292.html

CNN

politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/01/palin-jousts-with-rouse/?npt=NP1