Clintonite Emanuel accepts Chief of Staff slot

I suppose it could have been worse. On second thought, maybe not:

Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a former Clinton administration aide, has accepted the position of President-elect Obama's chief of staff, a Democratic aide tells CNN.

House Minority Leader John Boehner criticized the choice of Emanuel — the man known for his tough-minded approach and widely credited with engineering large congressional gains for Democrats in the 2006 elections.

“This is an ironic choice for a President-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center," Boehner said in a statement.

Like all Clintonistas, he is intensely, even insanely partisan. He is extremely tough (mailed a dead fish to a former rival in the White House) - a bare knuckled brawler in a very tough business (his nickname at the White House was "Rahm-bo"). He will no doubt keep the WH staff in line while mapping out strategies to make the GOP irrelevant.

He is also very, very smart - something of a political genius. He may out-Rove Karl Rove. He is largely credited - rightly I believe - with  developing  the successful strategy of recruiting more centrist Democratic candidates in 2006 who defeated GOP incumbents in places like NC, IN, and OH - districts that were fairly safe for Republicans.

He will be a formidable presence on the political scene as Obama's top henchman.