It is rumored that as many as 160 people will be in the West Wing under Mr. Obama. Under President George W. Bush there were about 60. My old, modest-seized office has been carved into four cubicles. This reduces the space for ad hoc meetings in personal offices, where so much West Wing work once took place.
The space crunch comes because Mr. Obama has moved several positions that once had offices in the EEOB into the West Wing. These include public liaison, intergovernmental affairs and political affairs. This reflects the importance he places on these offices' marketing efforts.
Space is also short because the ranks of senior staff have been increased. There is a chief of staff, of course, but also two deputy chiefs, and three senior advisers. Some senior aides now have chiefs of staff of their own. That is new.
All of this matters because management structure affects decision-making and determines the range and quality of voices the president hears. That impacts policy outcomes.
Mr. Obama's changes could overload Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. As power that was once diffused to cabinet officers is centralized in the White House, Mr. Emanuel will have to make more decisions and referee more turf wars than his predecessors. This will test his skills and likely inject chaos into the policy process as he prioritizes the decisions he can reasonably make.
You have to read the rest of the "opinion" piece by Rove. It's a scream. This is the man allegedly credited with giving the power to the Bush Administration, now complaining that "ad hoc" meetings will be compromised. Ha ha. Don't you mean "secret" meetings with oil lobbyists and the like, Mr. Turd Blossom?
And they still pay men like him to write this bullshit, and tout it on television.
The American people said "hell, no" in 2006, and a bigger "HELL NO" in 2008. Keep on keeping on you Republicans. You just may drive your party into extinction, which would, as far as I am concerned, not be a bad idea in this day and age.
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