Podesta sharpens WH focus for
midterms
By Justin Sink and Amie Parnes - 01/22/14
06:00 AM EST
John Podesta’s fingerprints are all over the White
House agenda just three weeks into his tenure.
The White House has focused on income
inequality and executive action since President Obama’s new adviser came on at
the beginning of the year — demonstrating a singlemindedness often missing
during a rocky 201
Both issues were championed by Podesta as
effective ways to score victories over congressional Republicans and motivate
the Democratic base ahead of the midterm elections, where the Democratic
majority in the Senate is in peril.
Keeping Democrats excited and confident in
Obama this year is vital to Democratic hopes of retaining the Senate in the
midterms, where voter turnout is often the difference between winning and
losing.
One former senior administration official
said the White House “has got to be worried about the notion of a six-year
itch.” Only 31 percent of Democrats strongly approved of Obama in a recent
Reuters poll.
“The base has been rattled by ObamaCare and disturbed by the NSA,” the official said,
adding that Podesta will “be a key part of an agenda that will get the party
excited again.”
“He’ll be valuable towards keeping the
base activated and keeping the party feeling good about the White House.”
A senior White House official said Podesta
has been toiling on two specific issue areas: an examination of the way the
administration can use executive action to set climate policy, and work on
privacy issues that have arisen out of controversy over National
Security Agency surveillance programs.
Both climate change and government
surveillance are thorny issues that resonate within the liberal base.
Podesta wrote a letter to environmental
groups last week voicing surprise that they would question the president’s
energy strategy, and vowing “significant work” on climate
change throughout the rest of his second term. Obama also tapped
Podesta to lead a study into the risks of bulk data collection by the
government and private corporations.
Meanwhile, the White House has been
focused sharply on economic messaging, and has held a relentless schedule of
events on economic mobility ahead of the Jan. 28 State of the Union address.
It has also signaled a new effort in which
Obama will use his “pen and phone” to advance his policies when Congress has
declined to do his bidding.
Both the economic focus and the use of
executive actions are hallmarks of Podesta’s time as former President Clinton’s
chief of staff in his second term.
After Republicans took control of Congress
in 1994, Clinton
used his executive authorities to implement environmental protections for
federal lands, institute medical privacy protections and create “welfare to
work” partnerships with private businesses. Despite the lurid details of the
Monica Lewinsky scandal, Clinton
left with the highest approval rating of any president since World War II.
Podesta has long argued that executive actions
provide a dual benefit, both rallying the base through policy victories and
creating a perception of momentum and snowballing accomplishments.
“Progress, not positioning, is what the public
wants and deserves,” Podesta wrote shortly after the 2010 midterm elections — a
disaster for Obama.
“One of John’s main focuses is figuring out
how they can have a focused program on using all aspects of the federal
government and government agencies to get things done,” said former top
Democratic staffer Steve Elmendorf. “He’s an incredibly experienced guy, and
can also be a convener of the private sector to get them engaged in doing
more.”
Last week, Obama announced a public-private
manufacturing institute in North
Carolina and announced pledges from universities and
nonprofits to help low-income students. Former colleagues of Podesta said he
sees value in presidential trips outside of Washington — especially when he can
highlight concrete accomplishments, and do so in states where Democratic
candidates have tough reelection fights.
“He
understands the office of the presidency and the limits and opportunities of
presidential authority perhaps better than any other living person,” said
Loretta Ucelli, the White House director of communications when Podesta served
as chief of staff.
White House allies also say that Podesta,
along with a wave of other new hires to top White House positions, has injected
new life into a staff exhausted by the battles of 2013.
“He
has the ball-breaking skills of Rahm Emanuel
and the policy chops that come with running [the Center for
American Progress],” said one senior administration official.
“That’s an insanely good combo for the White House.”
Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist who
met last week with Podesta and White House chief of staff Denis
McDonough, said the White House is “very anxious to have a strong
year and to have a strong a second term as possible.”
Center for American Progress
George Soros
was a supporter for the Center for American
Progress, and the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Note: Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for
American Progress, and the Climate Reality Project.
John D.
Podesta is the chair & counselor for the Center for
American Progress, and a counselor for the Barack Obama
administration.
Denis
McDonough was a senior fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and is the chief of staff; former deputy national security
adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
Ezekiel
Emanuel is a senior fellow at the Center for American
Progress, Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother, and was the health care policy adviser
for the Barack Obama administration.
Rahm I.
Emanuel is Ezekiel Emanuel’s brother, a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Chicago (IL) mayor, and was the White House chief of staff
for the Barack Obama administration.
Carol M.
Browner is a director, senior fellow for the Center for
American Progress, was a director at the Climate
Reality Project, an administrator for the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the energy czar for the Barack Obama administration.
Albert A.
Gore Jr. is the chairman for the Climate Reality Project.
Lee M.
Thomas was a director at the Climate Reality Project,
and an administrator for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
W.
James McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Boeing
Company is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Keith
B. Alexander was a director at the National Security Agency
(NSA), and is a friend of Barbara G. Fast.
Barbara
G. Fast is a friend of Keith B. Alexander,
was a VP at the Boeing Company, and a VP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI
Group Inc. was the Obamacare
contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
R. Eden
Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N.
Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP,
and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Robert
S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the EVP & general counsel for the Booz Allen Hamilton.
Booz
Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency
(NSA).
Edward
Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton,
and leaked information about the National Security Agency
(NSA).
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