ANALYSIS
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Emanuel's Media Blitz Goes 'Relentlessly' 24/7
'Aggressive,' 'relentless' Rahm 'in constant touch'
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Jun 23, 09 2:34 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Rahm Emanuel is “in constant touch” with journalists, offering a “round-the-clock offensive” on behalf of the White House, writes Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post. “He calls, drops a few F-bombs, makes his point and hangs up,” says one commentator. Brief he may be, but “perhaps no White House chief of staff in modern history has worked the media as aggressively and relentlessly as Emanuel,” Kurtz notes.
Emanuel is an expert at working the media, which he sees as a “constituency group.” He’s ready with “on-the-record quotes, background spin and the sort of capital gossip that lubricates relationships.” And he doesn’t hesitate to get personal, often hosting press gatherings or taking opponents out for a meal. Says colleague David Axelrod: “He thinks like a journalist.”