Obama Disses Senators Before Even Taking Office

John Kass wrote a biting piece for today’s Chicago Tribune. You need to read the whole thing. It’s that good. Kass addresses the outcome of the Burris / US Senate leadership smackdown and says it was never in doubt.

So the Chicago Way hauled off and slapped the U.S. Senate in the face—one of those backhands with the knuckles to unsuspecting lips—and guess who blinked?

It wasn’t Chicago.

It was the Senate.

Get used to it, America. And it won’t be the last time either.
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Now [Burris] has President-elect Barack Obama behind him, muscling Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid in a phone call earlier in the week. So much for transcending the old politics.

Read the rest ->

Kass, who says the national media treats Obama as “the gentle Mr. Tumnus of American politics,” goes on to say Obama got all Chicago on Reid on the phone, prompting Reid’s quick turnaround on whether Burris would be seated.

Obama is perfectly within his rights to try to wriggle out of an embarrassing political situation, and what could be more embarrassing for him than to have Illinois political corruption constantly on the news in Washington?

People might start asking questions, wondering how Obama could come out of a city run by the wrought-iron fists of the Daley machine but smell like the neck of a baby after a bath.

I’m still wondering.

Yet Obama was tricky, not mentioning his phone call to Reid when talking to reporters Wednesday. He said Tombstone was the Senate’s business, not his business.

Kass noted that Obama very nearly did not have to admit to phoning Reid but for one reporter’s last minute question at that presser.

Obama almost wasn’t asked anything about Burris on Wednesday. One reporter barely tossed it up at the end, after others asked him about the war in the Gaza Strip (Obama still can’t comment about Gaza because he’s not yet president) and the economy (though he’s not president, you can’t stop the guy from commenting on that one).

Kass ends with this:

“People ask a lot of times why we have to do various things procedurally here in the Senate,” Reid told reporters. “It’s because we’re the Senate: That’s how we operate.”

Correction. That’s how you used to operate. You’re from Nevada, but Obama comes from Chicago.

It’s sure got to be difficult to eat a big hunk of humble pie when your lips are stinging, but here’s some advice, Senators.

Have another slice. There’s plenty more.

Kass referred to another Tribune article on the matter. According to that earlier article, someone in the Obama administration pressured Reid into caving on the Burris appointment. Doing so caused Reid to pressure Jesse White, the IL Secretary of State who refused to sign the appointment papers for Burris although his authority to refuse is in question.

The U.S. Senate’s Democratic majority opened the way Wednesday for Roland Burris to become Illinois’ next senator, pressured by President-elect Barack Obama to remove a politically consuming distraction less than two weeks before he assumes the White House during an economic crisis.

A top Senate Democratic source said Obama’s concerns about the Burris situation were among several factors that resulted in an about-face by Senate leaders, who had vowed to reject Burris or anyone else named by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Obama told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and others when he visited Capitol Hill this week “that if Burris had legal standing—and it appears he has—he should be seated as quickly as possible,” a senior Democratic official said Wednesday. Obama earlier had sided with Reid’s opposition to the appointment.
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[Jesse] White said he resented Reid pressuring him, comparing it to “strapping me in a wheelchair and pushing [me] down four flights of stairs.” The secretary of state said he did not believe his signature was necessary for Burris to be seated.

It was not clear during the well publicized meeting between Reid and Burris what prompted such an about face from the Senate leader.

Appearing after the meeting with Burris, Reid and Durbin offered reporters no explanation for the apparent change in heart in looking to seat the former attorney general, who became Illinois’ first statewide elected African-American when he won the comptroller’s office in 1978.

The news story said a call came from the “Obama administration.”

One Senate Democratic source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, said the Senate leadership had been urged by the incoming Obama administration to “end the distraction” involving Burris in light of the economic crisis the president-elect is inheriting.

Of course, it turns out the call came from PEBO himself.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Senator Feinstein broke with Obama over the nomination of Leon Panetta mainly due to turf issues.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s chilly response Tuesday to outreach from President-elect Barack Obama – after stomping on his choice of fellow Californian Leon Panetta as head of the CIA – dealt the incoming administration what is being described as the first “brush-back pitch” from powerful Democrats in Washington.

Feinstein also broke with Obama and Reid when she said earlier in the week that Burris should be seated, prompting Biden to say Feinstein should have received a “heads up” about important nominations. So she took two positions opposing Obama. Why?

Those who know Feinstein well and have worked intimately with her insist that her public critique of Panetta was not personal in nature. . . . insiders say that this week’s dustup was more a message to the incoming Obama administration about Beltway politics.
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One high-level Democrat with strong ties to Feinstein, who spoke on condition of anonymity, characterized the senator’s statements on Panetta this week as “a show of strength, a brush-back pitch, from a powerful chair who can be helpful or hurtful” to Obama.

“She feels strongly about protocol,” Feinstein’s friend said. “As chair of the Intelligence Committee, she expected a courtesy call, especially if it was going to be outside the norm.”

“If she did not respond with a show of strength, she’d be seen as weak,” the insider said. “This is not the time for weak leaders. And she is not the kind of wallflower that would simply turn the other cheek with this kind of offense.”
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With just 14 days until the president-elect’s inauguration, the unexpected umbrage from a powerful California senator over the naming of a well-known and highly respected California nominee underscores what one Democratic insider describes as a political “reality check for Obama.

“The lesson is that, despite the Democratic euphoria over winning the White House back and expanding our margins in the House and the Senate, you still have very powerful committee chairs … who will be very protective of their turf,” said Democratic strategist Garry South.

“Unexpected” umbrage? Are you kidding? Of course, a brush back pitch might be met with more crowding of the plate.

But critics [who are these unnamed critics, I wonder?] decried Feinstein’s move as representative of tired inside-the-Beltway politics – the very thing voters rejected when they elected Obama.
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Some, who won’t be quoted by name, even suggest that Feinstein aims to establish her clout as an influential player on intelligence issues – and as a key voice from California – as Obama takes office. Panetta, they note, has long been popular with state Democrats and has a good relationship with the incoming president.

Hmmmmm. Reid caves, but Feinstein pushes back. Boxer, not pushing back, gently reminds Obama that he needs to play nice.

Boxer acknowledged that for any president, “it’s good to work with the chairman” of key committees on important appointments – though she noted Obama “didn’t confer with me on the (Environmental Protection Agency) appointment. I talked to him about it, and I would have loved to have known.”

Interesting. Apparently the incoming administration isn’t working with the Democratic senators very well. And before anyone suggests incompetence, I’ll just call BS on that. At this level, people darn well know how to use the phone and smooth the waters. Not doing so sends its own message. What message is Obama sending? I think John Kass knows.