Nov 7th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Too Many Press Releases
The Obama transition operation just emailed me the seating chart from their economic summit:
I recognize that it must be hard to just go cold-turkey after the manic press release-sending of the campaign, but guys it’s really a time to give it a rest.
70 Responses to “Too Many Press Releases”
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November 7th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Whatever happened to Austan Goolsbee?
November 7th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
UPDATE: Volcker refuses to attend unless the chart reflects the revision “Volcker (Granholm on lap).”
November 7th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Where’s Geithner?
November 7th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I actually think seating charts are kind of neat. You can imagine what the meeting will look like.
I want to know where Buffet’s tv is going to be.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I hope Geithner’s absence isn’t a sign that he’s no longer under consideration.
And where’s Jason Furman? Maybe sitting in an uncomfortable folding chair against the wall.
November 7th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
That’s a good question: where is Goolsby?
November 7th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Robert Reich is getting the shaft…. they put him in the corner because he’s short.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Mmmmmm … Kremlinology.
Geithner was a revisionist. He has been purged.
.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I saw Goolsby in the background of a photo — but no seat at the “famous people table.”
November 7th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Actually, when I was covering state gov’t as a reporter, seating charts would have been nice. It’s a bit of a cheat sheet as to whom you can attribute quotes. I always ended up making my own on scrap paper. So insofar as this is a press release, I suppose the emphasis is on the first word.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I would have assumed that Emanuel, rather than sitting down, would be circling the table with a baseball bat talking about “enthusiasms.”
November 7th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I look forward to the Volcker-Villaraigosa colloquy on M2 vs. M3.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
they really ought to consider “BHO” as an abbreviated reference. BO may know baseball, but B.O. reeks.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
They forgot to place the chips and salsa table.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
They forgot to place the chips and salsa table.
That’s easy to figure out from the chart above. The chips & salsa must be at the right end of the table.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Why is Villaraigosa there?
November 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
That’s a good question: where is Goolsby?
Maybe there’s a kiddie table.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Reich?
Oh no.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Get used to it, Matt. One of the lessons that Obama/Axelrod learned from Clinton’s 1992 experience is that the campaign is just beginning. So they’ve got a communications agenda for this period, which includes that they are immediately bringing in serious people to discuss what they are going to do about the economy.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I like that they had Granholm right behind BHO at the press conference. Proof that the Dems have a hotter governor than Palin.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Frankly, after the Cheney energy-policy meeting where the attendees were seekrit, having a seating chart showing exactly who’s at the table making the decisions that affect us is a welcome change of pace, and shows (I hope) that Obama wasn’t kidding about the “transparency in government” thing.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
i bet the keep this up the whole admin. This goes to that whole transparency thing. they are going to make very one sick with the level of inane detail they provide.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Oh, and good point about transparency by the posters above.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Damn, a vitally important high level government policy meeting where they tell the public who is present and what is going to be discussed. It’s like living in a democracy!
I’m no policy wonk, but I’d give a week’s paycheck to be in the grandstands watching this crew of heavy hitters chew on a problem. Maybe they can melt Bin Ladins’s brain and crack open Cheney’s office vault with the power of their minds while they’re at it.
Hershey bars and popcorn, green tea and fresh underwear every hour! Get to it, people!
November 7th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I’m rather happy to see that Volker will be sitting right next to the main man.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Why not Stiglitz? He’s as qualified as any of them (”Nobel” prize, blah, blah), he has as much real world experience as any (Head of Econ Advisors, Chief Economist World Bank) (for combo of acad credentials and real experience, he probably tops all of them), and he saw through market deregulation much sooner than most all of them. Is anyone there but Reich a progressive? Obama seems to be accepting the “anyone Wall Street doesn’t like, or the Seattle crowd does, is verboten.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Why is Villaraigosa there?
Isn’t he the mayor of LA? Why is Sam Donaldson seated between Pritzker and Reich?
November 7th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
I was a bit surprised to see Villaraigosa there, too, as is the progressive LA Weekly.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Why not Stiglitz?
He is good. Is Bonior, David Bonior? I still want to know why Sam Donaldson is there, he’ll just ask annoying questions and cause uncomfortable silences.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Robert Reich? Oh, dear me. One of the funniest things I’ve ever read was Michael Kelley’s retelling of Reich’s famously inaccurate and self-serving memoirs as “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
November 7th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
All this speculation from a seating chart. The transparency is appreciated. Still, no Krugman…no Geithner….
I hope this means we can expect the seating charts for all White House dinners to be available online at least 6 hours ahead of the first course. (I anxiously await the night that “Colbert, S.” is seated next to “Bear, S.”)
November 7th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
It’s good to see that some of MattY’s commenters are able to spot things he’d otherwise completely miss. Search for Villaraigosa at my site for all the other things MattY would miss, such as his outright support for illegal activity in order to increase his power base (and also probably to keep his backers making money). The LAT has a very long-term habit of covering up for him.
And, maybe MattY can contact the campaign and ask them whether that CommunityService will be voluntary or mandatory, because change.gov gives conflicting information.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
But wouldn’t that be where you put Reich? Zing!
November 7th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I am actually glad they sent that out, Matthew. BHO will be sitting at the right hand of God, so that should improve things considerably.
max
['Would like Stiglitz and Krugman to be there.']
November 7th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Isn’t he the mayor of LA?
Yes. But what about that position qualifies him to be at the table? It seems odd to include a mayor among this group.
Why is Sam Donaldson seated between Pritzker and Reich?
I’d bet it’s Bill, not Sam.
November 7th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
BHO will be sitting at the right hand of God…
Ah, I knew there were still devotees of the cult of Volcker out there.
Seriously, it looks like a solid grouping, and not unlike the table that a president HRC would’ve put together.
November 7th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Also missing from the chart, with good reason, was the MexicanPresident, to whom all the attendees swore an oath of blood fealty. Because MattY is a hack, he ignores this. Also, click on the link so that I can buy some fucking Cheetos.
November 7th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
This may imply an eagerness for transparency among Obama’s people. Certainly not a bad thing.
November 7th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
“UPDATE: Volcker refuses to attend unless the chart reflects the revision “Volcker (Granholm on lap).”
That is such an insult to Volcker, who is one of the most respected chairmen of the Fed.
It’d be Revision: Volcker (Granholm, Tyson on lap: right, left knee assignments TBA).
November 7th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
+1 for Stiglitz
-1 for Villaraigosa. The table would be twice as good with that trade. It would be magnificent.
November 7th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
What’s most important is what is not shown on the chart — the identities of the financial experts who were sitting under the table out of view. This is not the appropriate forum to reveal some of their names, but all this will be better understood by the wider audience soon enough….
November 7th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Placeholders like Villaraigosa make one know that his strings are pulled by someone. Almost 100% sure it’s someone whose plans are not good for the middle class.
But still hopeful that Obama’s “middle class bailout” will provide some relief that allows us to DELEVERAGE quite a bit!
November 7th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Pay attention, please.
Biden on his right hand, Volker on his left. Across the table, Emanuel, with Summers on HIS right.
This is a clear signal that Volker will be Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Summers will be the consigliere’s leg-breaker.
November 7th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Villaraigosa - why is a freakin’ mayor there
Daley - ( )
November 7th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
stupid tags.
November 7th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
The seating arrangement tells me that Rubin will betray Obama for about 13 thousand dollars. And that Biden is really a woman and Obama’s girlfriend (but definitely not a whore - that’s a lie made up by the patriarchy.)
November 8th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Actually this isn’t overkill. I watched CNBC spending much time trying to figure out who was who and where they were sitting. They resorted to analyzing still pics with 8 cnbc people figuring out who was in attendance and where they were sitting. And they sounded like they thought were people were sitting was relevant. So this was not an Obama thing I don’t believe, but a response to an undercurrent. And, in fact, that means they were right on top of things as usual!
November 8th, 2008 at 1:56 am
aaron mentions an interesting decision they made — calling obama “bo” instead of “bho.”
during the campaign, i noticed a pretty deliberate sidestepping of obama’s middle name — for instance, at the al smith dinner, obama made several jokes about his middle name without actually saying it once.
but now, as far as i can tell, there’s no reason anymore to downplay the fact that one of his names is “hussein.” after all, he won the election, right? so what gives?
November 8th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Francis Bacon thought that seating plans were important in royal councils - and he’d been there. More on my blog here.
November 8th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Welcome to transparency. You don’t like, ask to be taken off the mailing list (or add a filter to route incoming messages to the trash).
This is good. Snarking at it shows that our perspective has been warped by the last 8 years.
November 8th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Villaraigosa, seriously? Probably for appearances’ sake (like the whole damn meeting), but still. I bet Bloomberg got an invitation and decided he had better things to do.
November 8th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
I for one found the seating chart to be pretty interesting.
Furman, Geithner, Goolsbee, Bloomberg, Buffet, hmmmm.
November 27th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United States government should not worry about deficits over the next two years while spending money to jumpstart the ailing economy, President-elect Barack Obama said in a television interview that aired on Sunday.
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