If I've already missed this analysis, please excuse. But can someone (Eve? Crowley?) explain to me the logic behind Rahm's accepting the post as Obama's Chief of Staff? I get why Obama would offer the job. Despite the personality issue, Rahm has his obvious charms. But what's in this arrangement for Rahm?
Sure, the guy likes power. But he already did his stint as a top-tier White House player more than a decade ago. And, not to psychoanalyze, but Rahm has always struck me as the kind of guy with a big-swinging...ego... who likes to be the principal, the star, the king of his own domain rather than have his power, no matter how impressive, be derivative. So what exactly is he gunning for? Switching ends of Pennsylvania Avenue again doesn't advance his widely assumed quest to be House Speaker. And if it were the Senate he had his eye on, now would seem the obvious time to shoot for Obama's vacant seat.
Rahm is the ultimate political animal and ruthlessly ambitious to boot; he does nothing without considering all the angles and what they mean for his future. So what is the long-term goal here?
--Michelle Cottle