Obama and the Godfather

It's True, I Have A Lot Of Friends In Politics

COURIC: What is your favorite movie of all time?

Obama: Oh, I think it would have to be the Godfather. One and two. Three not so much. So--so--but that--that saga I love that movie.

One of the very first posts I wrote on this site, six years ago, was titled "Everything I Needed To Learn I Learned From The Godfather." I'd seen the movie when I was young, but it wasn't until I was middle aged, with a decade or so in politics behind me, that I really got the Machiavellian machinations and political parallels.

So now we have a fun tool with which to analyze the new administration.


You're out, Tom: Vilsack was reportedly a frontrunner for Secretary of Agriculture but apparently is not a wartime consigliere.

The line we keep hearing, in the context of Joe Lieberman forgiven and Hillary Clinton at State, is "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." Michael Corleone was speaking of Hyman Roth, a thinly disguised Meyer Lansky, when he said those words.

But remember what happened to Roth at the airport, after uttering the immortal last words, "I came home to vote in the presidential election because they wouldn't give me an absentee ballot"? Look at the fate of enemies outside the Corleone family and traitors within. Barzini, Tattaglia, Roth... Paulie, Carlo, Tessio... eventually "keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer" shifts to "I knew it was you, Fredo, you broke my heart."

COURIC: Do you have a favorite scene?

Obama: Love--love those movies. I--you know--so many of them. I think my favorite has to be --you know, the opening scene of the first Godfather where, you know, the opening scene of the first Godfather where the caretaker (sic) comes in and, you know, Marlon Brando is sitting there and he's saying "you disrespected me. You know and now you want a favor." You know it sets the tone for the whole movie. Now there--

COURIC: And all hell breaks lose, right?

Obama: Yeah, right. I mean there's this combination of old world gentility and you know, ritual with this savagery underneath. It's all about family.

Obama seems to have Michael Corleone's cool and calculation, and his patience of waiting till just the right moment, if not his murderous ruthlessness.

But just as Michael had enforcers Al Neri and Rocco Lampone, Obama has Rahm Emanuel,who once took the famous "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes" Sicilian message too literally and sent a pollster a dead fish.

He also has a consigliere, in Joe Biden, whose own ambitions are off the table. Tom Hagen was ineligible to succeed the Don because of his non-Sicilian birth, and Michael chose a consigliere who was, by virtue of age, also out of the loop of succession and thus freer to give homest advice: "Who's a better consigliere than my father?" Barack, of course, was essentially fatherless, but Biden could play a paternal type of role.

The Don's "Never tell anyone outside the Family what you're thinking again" advice to Sonny sums up Obama's attitude toward leaks. The Don also said of Sonny: "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man." And Obama takes it to heart, guarding his personal time as best he can.

Sonny Corleone was a bad don because he let his temper get in the way. Obama won't make that mistake. He knows, as Virgil Solozzo knew, that "blood is a big expense." But if I were Joe Lieberman, I wouldn't go fishing with Al Neri.

Caucus Leapfrog: Happy New Year

Caucus Date Leapfrog Update: Happy New Year!

Marc Ambinder at the Atlantic says South Carolina GOP chairman Katon Dawson will “definitely” move the party’s primary from January 29. SC Republicans believe he could choose Jan. 15. That's a week before the currently date for New Hampshire, and NH Secretary of State Bill Gardner would almost certainly react.

And he can, reports Ron Gunzburger at Politics1:

Governor John Lynch (D) signed a law this week that gives Gardner virtually unfettered discretion to set the primary date, along with the candidate filing period, absentee ballot mailing date, and so on. The move is intended to enable the Granite State to outmaneuver all other states. This mean the NH primary could be in November if Gardner wants -- but look for him to keep it in the early January period barring unforeseen moves by states he sees as encroaching on their coveted status.

The South Carolina move would put New Hampshire, which demands a week before any other primary, on January 8. And if Iowa sticks with eight days before New Hampshire... New Year's Eve, folks. Calendar Year 2007 and the national parties and pundits will have kittens.

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Rahm Emanuel calls Dick Cheney on his claim that he's not part of the executive branch and proposes defunding the office of the Vice President. Almost pulls it off, too, losing only 209-217. Iowans vote on party lines; Ron Paul one of only two Republicans in support.

Williamsburg's parade organizer is now saying candidates weren't asked to stay away and that one parade committee member simply "indicated" they "should" stay away. Which may scratch the free speech issue but doesn't change the negative attitude. The Des Moines Register, in its initial article, played into that attitude as well with this graphic taking up most of the front page above the fold:



Displaying your support for the candidate of your choice is as all-American as it gets and should be welcomed, not discouraged, on the 4th of July and every day.

Novelty Wearing Off Fast In Riverside

Novelty Wearing Off Fast In Riverside

The Gazette article isn't linkable, but this much tells the story:

The new Riverside casino saw its gaming revenue drop 13.6 percent and its attendance decline by 19.9 percent in October compared with its first full month of operation. Chief Executive Officer Dan Kehl of the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort said he expected the numbers to go down after the first month as the ``newness'' wore off. ``We're tracking about where we thought we'd be,'' he said. ``It may have been a little bit lighter (in October). There were a couple of days ... that knocked us a little bit off of our projections, but nothing we're concerned about.''

As I've said so many times: the gambling pie is only so big. Opening more casinos doesn't expand the pool of gamblers, it merely cuts the pie into thinner and thinner slices. There are people (like me) who wouldn't go to a casino if it were across the street. This isn't job growth, it's a temporary redistribution.

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Also on the local front, IC City council meets with legislators:

The Iowa City Council discussed changing the property tax system as a way to generate more money for city services.

Good point there: perhaps the new trifecta team of Culver, Gronstal and Murphy will look at that rather than regressive sales taxes.

Another topic, introduced by University of Iowa City Council liaison Austin Baeth, was protecting tenants from landlords who wrongfully retain deposit money.

Other legislative priorities listed by City Council include:

Advocating for increased funding for the Iowa State Housing Trust Fund to make affordable housing more available.

Maintaining control over local cable franchise to better endorse public television.

Giving city government the power to increase its hotel/motel tax.

Allowing home rule so local governments can determine their own public smoking regulation.

Eliminating the tax break for licenses on pickup trucks that originally was intended to benefit farmers.

Doesn't look like a sensible, enforcable, consistent drinking age of 18 was on the agenda.

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Quick and dirty links:

MyDD looks at the excessive credit given Rahm Emanuel for last week's win with the funniest post of the year.

Election Central has the rundown on 10 US House races still in the too close to call zone.

Old music in new packages from a couple of my obsessions: Neil Young finally starts to release the archives with a 1970 live set and Oasis does the greatest hits thing in odd fashion: two CDs running just 87 minutes and denying the existence of Be Here Now. No new songs but the upside is Noel Gallagher picked the tracks himself so you get a good sense of what he thinks is his best work.

Campaign Battlefield May Grow

Campaign Battlefield May Grow

Blogging from the road this weekend in MinneSOta (say that with a Fargo accent like my great uncles). Playing catchup on the news after a day on the road, but the latest blogosphere vs. Beltway story caught my eye:

With Democrats needing to capture 15 seats to regain a majority in the House, party leaders in Washington have argued that it is most efficient to focus money on the districts most evenly balanced between the parties. Gersh said that in the last decade, each side had won only a single district where, in previous elections, more than 55% of the voters leaned to the other party.

Internet activists see Hackett's 52% to 48% loss to Republican Jean Schmidt in Ohio's 2nd District as proof that Democrats can compete in districts outside those guidelines. President Bush twice won more than 60% of the vote in the Ohio district.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has responded to the pressure from liberal activists by saying he intends next year to fund Democratic challengers for 50 Republican-held seats, about double the number the campaign committee backed in 2004.

But the committee, and many leading Democratic strategists, say that funding a wider circle of challengers in heavily Republican areas would divert money better spent on districts more closely balanced between the parties...

Maybe there are 218 winnable districts after all, though there's always the prospect of re-gerrymandering...

Politics

Perpetual Gerrymander: Not in Illinois

Perpetual Gerrymander: Not in Illinois

During a Tuesday night meeting called by Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), nine of the delegation's 10 Democrats who attended concluded they should not to move forward with the redistricting idea being pushed by Reps. Rahm Emanuel and Jan Schakowsky.

"The conclusion that was reached [Tuesday] night is we have more of a concern for the institution than we do our partisan concerns," Costello said Wednesday. "There's not a consensus. There are a few people in the General Assembly and a few people in the delegation that would like to proceed, but there's not a majority consensus on this so for the moment the issue is dead."

He added: "Just because this was done in Texas doesn't make it right."

What this tells me is: the GOP WANTS it worse. One of the reasons they've been winning stuff lately. We're fighting under Marquis of Queensbury rules; they're biting and crotch-kicking, and there are no referees.

Politics

Perpetual Gerrymander: The next shot is fired

Perpetual Gerrymander: The next shot is fired

And this time Democrats are shooting back:

In retaliation for similar Republican efforts in other states, two Democratic U.S. representatives are pitching the idea of redrawing congressional districts in Illinois, illustrating a growing partisan split among a once-collegial congressional delegation.

U.S. Reps. Rahm Emanuel, of Chicago, and Jan Schakowsky, of Evanston, want Democrats to hold a larger number of seats in a state with a Democratic General Assembly and governor and that backed Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in the last election...

State-side politics may head this off - but it's one more step in the escalating Total War. Anything once regulated solely by tradition and collegiality is now fair game.

Politics

Emanuel trims his Frontline

Emanuel trims his Frontline

The House Dems need to go on offense in order to get back to 218, but here's a peek at the strategy on defense:

Reps. Melissa Bean (Ill.), Leonard Boswell (Iowa), Chet Edwards (Texas), Stephanie Herseth (S.D.), Brian Higgins (N.Y.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Charlie Melancon (La.), Dennis Moore (Kan.), and John Salazar (Colo.) were informed last week that they will receive direct donations from their fellow incumbents, in addition to other campaign assistance...

Interesting to see Leonard on that short of a list...

Politics

Gerrymandering: Total War

Gerrymandering: Total War

Cribbing from Kos who is cribbing from Roll Call:

Faced with the prospect of Republicans redrawing Congressional lines in a third state since the initial 2001 round of redistricting ended, a faction of national Democrats is urging an aggressive strategy aimed at striking back at Republican House Members...

"The only way to stop them from doing this is to make them pay a price for it somewhere else," said a longtime House strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Democrats believe their best opportunities lie in Illinois, New Mexico and Louisiana, where Democrats have seized control of all the levers of state government in those states since the 2001 reapportionment and redistricting.

Democratic Govs. Rod Blagojevich (Ill.) and Bill Richardson (N.M.) as well as high-ranking Louisiana elected officials have been contacted by members of House leadership since the Georgia legislature began their re-redistricting.

"Some of us who believe Georgia is going to happen think that it will help us strategically, to motivate some governors that weren't interested in doing it to help us," said one source who works closely with House Democrats.

At least a few D.C.-based Republicans privately acknowledge they are concerned about the possibility of Democratic retribution over the maneuvers in Georgia, but are not in a position to change the situation...

MyDD has more:

When the lines were initially drawn in 2001, it was the result of a bipartisan compromise in the state Legislature, which at the time had split control; Republicans had a majority in the state Senate and Democrats had a majority in the state House. The governor was a Republican.

The plan, which had to account for the state's loss of a seat in reapportionment, aimed to protect incumbents of both parties; the casualty was Democratic Rep. David Phelps who was forced into a Member versus Member race against Rep. John Shimkus (R) in a southern Illinois district that favored the GOP.

Democrats believe that a re-opening of the Illinois lines could yield at least two seats; one could be carved out of the suburbs surrounding Chicago, which are currently represented entirely by Republicans including House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

Another gain could come in southern Illinois in areas Phelps represented prior to the redistricting of 2001. Much of the territory Shimkus now represents was held by Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin during his fourteen years in the House.

When asked whether Illinois Democrats should entertain the possibility of redrawing the state's districts, Durbin said: "Talk to Rahm Emanuel."

Who, as we know, has been known to mail dead fish a la Corleone.

MyDD adds "Personally, I like the idea of pushing Henry Hyde and Dennis Hastert into the same district."

The Perpetual Campaign is now taken to the next level. The Perpetual Gerrymander may be here to stay, at least until some national reform happens...

Politics

Godfather Reference Taken A Bit Too Literally

Godfather Reference Taken A Bit Too Literally



Can't link to the whole Roll Call article since they are pay-to-play, but this gem deserves note: New DCCC head Rep. Rahm Emanuel "once sent a dead fish to a political consultant who crossed him."

Also, not worth its own entry, not related, but still worth quoting is Kos: "Now that Ashcroft is gone, will the boobs still be covered up?"

Politics

Democrats Pick Emanuel as Campaign Chief

Democrats Pick Emanuel as Campaign Chief

"Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, a former senior adviser in the Clinton administration, was named on Sunday as the new chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The appointment by the minority leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, means Mr. Emanuel will direct the Democrats' effort to recapture the House in the 2006 midterm elections, after they suffered losses in both the House and Senate last November."



'Some people argue about old Democrats and new Democrats,' Mr. Emanuel said in explaining his philosophy. 'I'm a Vince Lombardi Democrat. Winning is everything.'"

Which isn't exactly what Vince said...

Hey, we'll take Packer fans everywhere we can get after yesterday.



But Rahm may have to spend a little extra time shoring up his Chicago district, as some of his constituents might not like his choice of football coaches.