President-elect Obama's first major appointment is drawing fire:
Barack Obama's designated chief of staff -- responding to Republicans' concerns that his tough, partisan approach might run at odds with Barack Obama's administration -- said it's up to the new president to set a bipartisan "tone."
Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, appearing Sunday on ABC News' This Week, dismissed such charges by saying Obama will maintain his pledge to govern in a bipartisan manner.
Seems like kneejerk outrage. The chief of staff is the president's gatekeeper, not his outreach director. His job is to manage the president's time by managing his office. Nixon's chief once described the job as being "the president's son of a bitch." I presume the duties haven't changed since then.
