Senior Obama Aide: Gibbs As White House Press Secretary Not Done Deal
A senior adviser to Barack Obama tells us that despite earlier reports, the move to make former Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs the White House press secretary is not a done deal yet.
The campaign's spokespeople aren't publicly commenting right now. Yesterday multiple news outlets reported that Rahm Emanuel had accepted a job as White House chief of staff, but at least two outlets were forced to retract that.
Look, it's true that sometimes the major players keep flacks in the dark about what they plan to do as things play out behind-the-scenes. And for all I know, maybe Gibbs has accepted and in the next hour it'll suddenly become official.
But still, let me reiterate: When it comes to all this transition stuff, reader beware.
Note To Greg: Calling To Confirm Stuff About Obama's Transition Isn't Hard To Do
November 6, 2008 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jzap - see the post below. Greg is the only person in the media who has bothered to call and try to confirm this stuff.
November 6, 2008 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, I know. That's what makes it so ironic.
Greg posted Gibbs To Be White House Press Secretary based on one "exclusive" in Politico whose only source was a top Democratic official. In his next post, he chides other reporters to confirm those rumors :-)
Yeah, I should have tempered my comment by reassuring Greg that we love him. Definitely meant For Amusement Only.
November 6, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
O behave.
I'm not carrying Greg's water. Though we do love him.
;)
November 6, 2008 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the media were to check out their facts, then there wouldn't be any room for mindless prognostication. After a 2 year campaign, they've formed a pretty serious addiction to it
November 6, 2008 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm telling you! It's Day2 and everybody is back to running around with their hair on fire.
Jebus, can we just enjoy this for awhile until he's inaugurated, at least?
November 6, 2008 11:57 AM | Reply | Permalink
Habits are hard to break, especially with the media run by a committee of stooges, did we honestly expect anything else Tena?
November 6, 2008 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
After all that built-up anticipation and pent-up angst, there was a collective release Wednesday and so now there's that post-coital-cigarette-time where we feel like we are kings (and/or queens) of the world and are in the process of creating a mental laundry list of altruistic things to do. Let us have our damn cigarette! :-)
November 6, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love this comment.
LOL!!!! Very well put.
November 6, 2008 12:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Could I second this about a eleventy thousand times?
Geez. Yesterday people were gnashing their teeth over the Rahm appointment that turned out not to be.
November 6, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Still, I hope Gibbsy does it. I like his style.
That kid is going places...
http://thepajamapundit.com/
November 6, 2008 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sigghhhhh...once again, gotta be the first to report even though it's not finalized or verified!
You know what? Keep this shit up and the newspapers coming out a day later will be the one true source for accurate news since they have the time to wade through the probables and report only the definites.
Me thinks newspapers, for that very reason above, are in little danger of becoming extinct.
November 6, 2008 11:59 AM | Reply | Permalink
That, and for collectability purposes. I looked everywhere for a New York Times yesterday to no avail.
November 6, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Luckily, my building has a 24 hour Walgreens in the lobby, so I was able to walk down (in a robe!) at 4:30 a.m. and buy up copies of the Tribune, Sun-Times and USA Today - I'm totally keeping those for collector reasons.
Unfortunately, hearing about Michael Crichton's passing yesterday made my books he's signed for me collector's items as well. :-(
November 6, 2008 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are some papers I'd just as soon see go out of business.
I want the Dallas Times Herald back dammit. The Morning News killed the only decent paper in the metroplex.
I hates them.
November 6, 2008 12:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Times Herald was in an impossible situation. They waited too long to be a morning paper (well into the 80s they delivered in the afternoon). And they wouldn't try to keep talented staff (especially in sports) that the DMN would outbid them for.
Fortunately, there is still a decent newspaper in town. Unfortunately, it only comes once a week.
November 6, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Star Tribune in Minneapolis can be added to that stack of crap papers.
November 6, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder if there are really leaks, or reporters just reading the tea leaves and throwing it out with an "unnamed source".
It's a circus right now with all of the guessing games and leaked names.
November 6, 2008 12:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
You said it, Jonze. It's a circus.
LOL
November 6, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is just like what the MSM did in the days before Obama and McCain announced their running mates - there's literally nothing else to report about right now, so they're all fighting to become the first to report something...as if it makes one bit of fucking difference!
I guess news is no longer about facts, but a foot race to a finish line that disappears and reappears everytime the story changes.
It's like a film critic posting reviews of each scene of a movie instead of waiting until the end of the movie to write a full review.
November 6, 2008 12:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
A third category: Connected Dems who pose as leaks but who exaggerate what they supposedly know.
November 6, 2008 12:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Transition speculation is like the veepstakes on crack.
November 6, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly. And whatever level of circumspection was appropriate to our Veep speculation, well, that's a good guide to what's appropriate here and now.
Note that I didn't answer the question of what that level was :-)
November 6, 2008 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know a president is capable of doing more than one thing at once, but doesn't Obama have a funeral to attend? The press needs to come down from its content-free, speculation-driven saturation election coverage and just chill.
November 6, 2008 12:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sigh... which reminds me. Westboro Baptist Haters say they are going to picket the funeral for Obama's Toots.
I'm going with DU's judgment and refusing to post the link, but I can confirm that WBC has issued this press release on their web page - which you can see at this link:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7800850
November 6, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are two halves to this story.
Right now we are just seeing the first half--reporters botching their calls staff appointments on their own half-assed guesses.
By late today, we will see the second half--reporters will say that the conflicting rumors are sign of disarray in Obama's transition team. They have to say so to cover their own sorry asses.
November 6, 2008 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can we please stop listening to The Politico? They are not a news organization, they are a rumor mill. They throw crap out there on a 1 sourced whim hoping it will be true so they can then go back and say "we were first".
I love TPM, but please wait until a REAL news organization provides information rather than relying on The Politico.
November 6, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Give us a moment to catch our breaths please.
Half the country or more still cannot believe we elected him and that's just the people who voted for him!
I hate to speak for a community I'm not part of but I heard yesterday on XM radio, one of the hip hop stations, how very confused this has caused some African Americans to feel - they believed so strongly this would never happen that a number called in and told Miss Kitty they were terribly confused and you could hear how life-shattering this has been for people.
We need to get used to it - 15 years almost of Repug rule we just broke - we've all got whiplash!
November 6, 2008 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not sure this is an appropriate comment and it's not too well thought out so forgive me in advance.
I would think that so many AA youth these days have been tracking with the hip-hop thug image because it's seen as a way to get ahead, a way to beat the establishment that's rigged to give them short shrift. Now that there is a black man in the White House (and not just any black man either, a truly inspiring man), there is a huge opportunity to say look, it's not a trick. There _is_ opportunity in this country for minority youth to get to the top of the food chain. There _is_ a way to get ahead from _within_ the system, not just by circumventing the system.
Thoughts?
November 6, 2008 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
ClosetLuddite: I don't know if your thesis can be proven, but to me it seems like a fair analysis.
November 6, 2008 1:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gibbs was a breath of fresh air during this campaign, I hope he sticks around as White House Press Secretary. Granted, it won't be an easy job, but if anyone can address the press and answer their questions with confidence and clarity, it's Gibbs.
November 6, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
he should get a job if for nothing else turning the tables on hannity at one of the debates when he was raving on about Bill Ayers and he hit hannity on his own anti-Semitism friends
November 6, 2008 10:17 PM | Reply | Permalink