Source: Obama wants Valerie Jarrett to replace him in Senate
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/09/art.jarrett.afp.gi.jpg caption="Valerie Jarrett is one of Barack Obama's closest advisers."]
(Update: Two Democratic sources told CNN Monday that Obama wants Jarrett to serve in the White House, not the Senate.)
(CNN) - A prominent Democratic source close to Barack Obama confirmed Sunday that Valerie Jarrett is Obama’s choice to replace him in the Senate.
Jarrett is a Chicago lawyer and one of Obama’s closest advisers. She is also one of the leaders of Obama’s transition team.
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the incoming chief of staff, said Sunday that he had not seen the report from Chicago’s WLS-TV that named Jarrett as Obama’s top pick, but he praised her as a “valuable ally.”
“People should know that Valerie Jarrett is - and people do know - she is a very dear friend of the president-elect and a valuable ally of his, not only prior to running for president, in his Senate life, and just personally for Michelle and Barack,” Emanuel said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, will make the final decision on who will be Obama’s successor.
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Hope. Change. Wanting to appoint cronies with no elective experience to your old Senate seat.
Beloved brethren,
I beseech you to treat this presidential candidacy as one led by the Lord.
Check your Bibles to see the many situations that fit this country and the world around us. We have given him the opportunity to allow God to lead him when we cast our votes.
Now, we must fall in line with godly wisdom and pray for our leaders that they will govern with our best interest at heart. To God be the glory.
It is irrelevant who wants the nod for the seat vacated by president-elect. Our prayers for God's chosen should supersede all of the political jockeying.
I challenge us all to brush the dust off of our King James version and thumb through it to find our beloved President-elect's path towards leading this perverse people towards godliness.
Face it, we have got to allow ourselves the rights to see God in all that's being done.
Duh! who would have thought that one! writing was on the wall! She was actually sickening this morning drooling over Obama. Chicago is taking over!
I am so glad that Barack Obama was elected and that people saw what could have been if America had not pushed hard enough to keep Sarah out.
To all the haters just think for awhile .
Sarah Palin would be totally lost, and useless to McCain, she couldn't help McCain select his Cabinet. All she would have been was a yes woman to everything. She proved that when she accepted the prank call, the clothes and her babbling with Katie Couric and Charles Gibson.
Obama is working hard to get his cabinet together and you just have to be patient to see what the outcome is going to be. He can't do anything until 1/20/09. It can't be no worse than the Bush 8 years.
I am hoping that the Bush Administration help the Big Three which is the heart of America. If they don't there will be way more job losses than youcan imagaine. They cannot wait for Obama to get in because it might be too late. .
Let the govenor be not persuaded.
Let Obama be free to govern!
To God be the glory!
who cares, she and the whole team will fall, Obama has no experience and now he is picking all Clintons old team, He will solely rely on his team. He know nothing.
for all of you who say so much for change, these are the people who are going to help obama get the change he wants.The bi-partisen will come from the repubs not trying to block everthing he is trying to get done.You guys have had 8 yrs to get it right how dare you complain when someone else has to fix the mess that was left behind. Get over the politics and help the people!!!!
Hi; Lydia November 9th, 2008 3:25 pm ET , one of the better comments among others on this page
Obama was elected – let him do his thing! What kind of President would you have if "we" were doing all the thinking for him.....He has a good head on his shoulders (obviously!)
Only time and the real world will tell us how his Presidency & the decisions he makes turns out.
Anyone with any sense of the political, economic, & social climate at this time – knows without a doubt – this is no easy task.
Its great we can sit on the side lines in the peanut gallery and have our say.......it relieves some of the angst we are going through right now if not for ourselves for our children and this country.
We already have too many lawyers in washington, 50%+ of the sitting members, that is why the US government has not worked for 50 years! Lawyers are only trained to manipulate the rules, they originate very few new ideas. I just hope Obama is an exception to the rule.
Jarrett, known as the other side of Obama's brain, is up to her neck in shady real estate deals that left underpriviledged Chicagoans living in slums. She and Rezko were recipients of government housing subsidies, channeled their way by their friend, Barak Obama. While they got rich, the people in their housing projects got rats and sewage coming up through their kitchen sinks. Despite her history, though, I'm not surprised that he wants her in the senate, This is Chicago machine politics folks, and it's what the electorate said it wanted,.
"as long as he is picking the BEST people for the job who cares what color they are"
I agree. Too bad people voting for Obama didn't believe that though. If Obama were white (or rather ALL white), he would not have even been considered, much less elected. The black voters put him in office and they voted for him strictly because of skin color. Hmmm....judging somebody by skin color – doesn't that make you a RACIST???
Yes, that's good, you Obama haters, just keep it up with your e-mails and hate-filled blogs and racist comments. I guess you forgot about a few things your buddy Bush initiated that are still in effect like warrantless wire-tapping and the Patriot Act. Don't be surprised if you find yourselves on terrorist watch lists since the KKK is also a terrorist organization and a valid threat to national security now that we have a black president.
bush and cheney maxed out the credit card and now we are all left paying the bill! Just for the record obama didnt run as a black man he ran becouse he thought he was the right man for the job, he made history by winning but dont expect him to pick his cabinet any differently, i think he will put together a team that is best for the country no matter male or female ethnic or white.
My friends....it only has begun...you have seen nothing yet...paybacks are very necessary, and there will be many of them...someday we will ALL look back and wonder what we hath wrought....remember what he said in one of his earliest speeches in the primaries, "Our time has come". I do not believe he was referring to the Democrats. The Reid/Pelosi witch-hunt has begun...and there will be more
He is our President, we must stand behind him and support him, until we can elect him out legitimately
a woman who is a democrat is always the best choice !!!!!!
You keep asking the Republican’s to support Obama and come together for the sake of the Country. And yet, you continue to demean and name call McCain and Palin every chance you get, especially Palin. Sure, we are mad that our team didn't win. But we would also get over it sooner if we didn't have to keep hearing the dribble you hateful Democrat bloggers keep posting every chance you get. It's over, you won, we lost, and that’s the end of it. So stop calling Palin "Bimbo", "Idiot" and all the other names that you have been calling her. She is NOT a Bimbo or an Idiot and she would have never been elected Governor or chosen as a VP if she was. There is NO reason for it now, but to show your true immature intelligence. You are the rotten winners and that makes everything said about the Un-American statements true.
If you truly want Unity across both parties, then stop casting so much hate.
I feel sure the correct person will be chosen for the job.
I trust Senator Obama's judgement completely.
Geez...do all you posters know how to do is tear each other down? Don't you guys have lives??? I could see posting @ work but on a Sunday?!? Chillllllllll out
To Samuel who wrote:
I can't believe the McCain/Palin supporters still active.
Bush brought in half of Texas population to the White House when he got elected.
Yes, Samuel he did and we all remember the whining from all the democrats who deplored his actions then. So does it seems any less repugnant now when a democrat does it or is it okay since Obama is involved and not Bush? Obama supporters must remember exactly what they cried foul for before and not look too hypocritical as they try and excuse Obama for the same actions.
same old , same old , politics , politics never change , it looks like the change that obama promised was a change of the name of the president ,
While Ms. Jarrett is a very intelligent woman, I don't think it would be very wise for Gov. Blagojevich to appoint her to Obama's US Senate seat with no elected political experience. She is good friends with Obama, and one of his closest advisers and supporters, but that is not a qualification for the job. Cronyism needs to stop now, and high-powered positions need to go to people who are actually qualified for them. If Jarrett wants to be a member of Congress, perhaps she should run for the House of Reps if a member from Chicago gets appointed to the Senate in Obama's place. I think the governor should at least consider Obama's preferences, and ask him for three or four of them, but exercise his own discretion in choosing the replacement. As has been mentioned, I think Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., would be a good choice, since so many people are worried about the loss of the only African-American in the Senate. Rep. Bobby Rush or Rep. Danny Davis are two other well-qualified African-American congressmen from IL that could also fill the seat. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a Hispanic congressman from Chicago who has served 15 yrs, or Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a Jewish congresswoman from Evanston, might be good replacements as well.
I'm amazed at how many people mentioned race! If this woman is capable, I don't care if she's purple. Appoint her for the job.
Simply...race has nothing to do with it. Get over it already.
I would love a rainbow coalition as Mr. President cabinet. That's America.
Wow....what happened to Jesse Jackson Jr.?
For crying out loud! After reading a few of these posts and realizing how incredibly ignorant and or mindless some people are, I completely understand why our forefathers set the electoral college in place. Some of you participating in this blog do not have the mental capacity to separate fact from fiction. And will follow any voice that sounds soothing like bleating sheep. McCain supporters accused Obama supporters of "drinking the koolaid" but all of the negative rhetoric and conspiracy theories came from them. And like blind mice they followed the music that tickled their burning ears.
It is a waste of time to present facts to this type of people because they will believe what they want. They look for any excuse to not support him because they are afraid to say why they really don't support him. It isn't his political style, policies, or even whether he has enough experience, all of that is a smokescreen for not liking him because he is black.
And you know what? That's ok because most people fear what they do not know. The good thing is, they have four years to find out. For everyone elses sake let's hope they can be opened minded enough to learn.