After the shellacking that the Democratic Party took in the midterm elections, political speculation centered around the question of how Barack Obama would react. Some predicted that he would pursue his ideological agenda to the finish, while others predicted that he would emulate Bill Clinton. Clinton, like Barack Obama had started his presidency on the left but after the crushing defeat in the 1994 midterm elections, Clinton veered back to the center.
Those who predicted the second alternative may feel vindicated by the choice of William Daley to be the chief of the White House staff and the effective gatekeeper to the Oval office. Obviously, Obama would not pick someone whose loyalty was suspect. William Daley is a Chicago Democratic princeling. He is the seventh child of the legendary mayor Dick Daley who ran the legendary Chicago political machine with an iron hand. His brother Richard Daley Junior was till recently Chicago's mayor as well. It was the Daley machine that gave Obama its blessings and support first to run for Sen. and then in his successful battle for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Daley was recommended by former White House Chief Rahm Emanuel, and Obama strategist David Axelrod, both veteran Chicago Democratic politicians.
Obama however has Chicago Democratic loyalists aplenty in the White House inner circle and he did not pick Daley for the post simply to get another Chicagoan. The 62-year-old William Daley brings to the White House a man experienced in both politics and business. He imbibed politics from the time he sat on his father's knee and served as Al Gore's campaign chairman. Previously he was Bill Clinton's Secretary of Commerce. In the American system of government certain cabinet posts are closely related to interest groups. The Secretary of Labor has been traditionally close to the unions while the post of Secretary of Commerce has prioritized relationship with the business community. Although many in corporate America supported Obama in 2008 he had managed to alienate a great deal of the business community. As late as the recent campaign Obama was tearing into the Chambers of Commerce. It was precisely the Chamber of Commerce that hailed the Dailey appointment as a "solid" one. The new Chief of Staff has impressive business credentials notably in the banking industry but he also serves on the Board of Directors of Boeing and Merck & Company the pharmaceuticals giant. As befits a member of the establishment he also sits on the Council on Foreign Relations giving him access to foreign policy mandarins. The Dailey appointment also builds bridges to the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party that despite the appointment of Hillary Clinton felt out of the loop during the first years of the Obama Administration.
Former Democratic chairman Howard Dean considered a member of the party left-wing expressed support for the nomination because he ironically viewed Daley as an outsider to Washington.More importantlyDean views Daley as "a grown-up who doesn't treat people like they don't know anything and you know everything." It was this respect for others, an atypical trait in the self-righteous Obama Administration that would allow Daley to communicate with the party's left wing. The nomination did arouse some criticism on the Democratic left who criticized Daley's intimate connections with the banking industry. As for the Republicans, they intend to zero in on Daley's with the Fannie Mae mortgage bank that shared responsibility for the subprime mortgage crisis. The Republicans are interested in focusing on the bank now that's they command the House Oversight Committee with its investigative powers. They intend to show that the Democrats were at least equally responsible for the economic crisis and if Daley gets skewered in the process, that will just be too bad.