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White House after Rahm

Jo Breiner — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:55:22 +0000

President Obama announced that Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, is leaving the office to run for mayor of Chicago. Political Science department chair Graham Wilson comments on the move.

“This may be unkind, but it is tempting to link Emanuel to two crucial strategic errors – the belief that compromise and cooperation with the Republicans was possible, and a concentration on an ‘inside the Beltway’ strategy rather than working to maintain the enthusiasm and mobilzation of 2008.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617,353,2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

General summoned to White House

Dick Taffe — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:26:05 +0000

The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal (r.), has been summoned to the White House to explain in person some controversial public remarks he made which were critical of the Obama administration. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective,” says presidential power is cumulative and so is its loss – so looking feeble in one policy area makes a president lose authority in completely unrelated areas, too.

“More generally, this turmoil at the top of the Allied effort in Afghanistan further destroys public confidence in that war. Divided leadership plus continuing casualties equals loss of public support.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

WH tells Dem consultant to nix Fox

Dick Taffe — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:30:09 +0000

The Los Angeles Times reports that a Democratic consultant was told by a White House official not to appear again on Fox News Channel, which the administration sees as a political opponent. College of Communication Professor Tobe Berkovitz, a political communication expert, says if that’s true, then the White House doesn’t seem to believe that the public is best served by a robust and open debate on the issues.

“I guess the mantra is, ‘Change you can believe in, only available on the TV networks, CNN, and of course MSNBC.’”

Contact Tobe Berkovitz, 617-921-0110, tobetv@bu.edu