HOME /  Politics :  Who's winning, who's losing, and why.

Obama's Muscle

Rahm Emanuel will bring discipline to the White House. And lots of profanity.

(Continued from Page 1)

But whatever else it says about the Obama administration, Emanuel's appointment suggests that it will be just as tightly run as the Obama campaign. Discipline is the quality that carried Obama to victory over sloppier opponents, and it's a quality sorely missed in many past Democratic administrations. With expectations for Obama as high as they are, he could do worse than having a human cudgel at his side.

SINGLE PAGE
Page: 1 | 2
MYSLATE
MySlate is a new tool that lets you track your favorite parts of Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you're interested in, and more.

Christopher Beam is a writer living in Beijing.

Photograph of Rahm Emanuel by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.