So, who is Pete Rouse?

[Drunken Irishman]

From his Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rouse">profile:

Rouse has worked on Capitol Hill for more than 30 years, since 1971. According to Amy Sullivan (Washington Monthly), Rouse came to be known as "the 101st Senator" thanks to his knowledge and skills.

Rouse helped prepare a memo, "The Strategic Plan," for Obama's first year in the Senate...Rouse worked with Obama and Senator Russell Feingold on strengthening ethics reform legislation...Rouse also is credited with persuading Obama to vote against the nomination of John G. Roberts, who was nevertheless confirmed as Chief Justice of the United States.

The Rolling Stone described Rouse as a low profile, calm and legislatively connected manager, quoting one "top Democratic strategist" as saying that "Rouse's the one who brought 'no drama' to Obama. His enforcement makes it work."...In September 2009, the Washington Post reported that Rouse was heading the White House's efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.

From http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/09/28/the-next-chief-of-staff-peter-rouse-tom-donilon-on-short-list/">Political Daily:

Rouse, a longtime aide to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (another person mentioned as a possible replacement for Emanuel) is part of the president's inner sanctum. He has been an Obama hand since the president's tenure as a senator from Illinois. He joined then-Sen. Obama's office in 2004, after Daschle lost his seat to John Thune (R-S.C.).

...

Like Emanuel -- who represented Illinois' 5th Congressional District from 2003 to 2009 -- Rouse's background in Congress is considered an asset to the president, who has faced stiff partisan opposition in passing legislation this year, and is likely to face an even more uphill battle after November, following expected GOP gains in both the House and Senate.

From the Washington Post's 2007 article http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082601446.html/">The Outsider's Insider:

It was the fall of 2005, and the celebrated young senator -- still new to Capitol Hill but aware of his prospects for higher office -- was thinking about voting to confirm John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice. Talking with his aides, the Illinois Democrat expressed admiration for Roberts's intellect. Besides, Obama said, if he were president he wouldn't want his judicial nominees opposed simply on ideological grounds.

...

That has made Rouse's job of introducing Obama to Capitol Hill a complicated balancing act: He seeks to burnish Obama's still-modest credentials as a freshman senator while preventing the talented but inexperienced politician from making the kind of mistakes that have denied every senator since John F. Kennedy the presidency. "My role," he said with classic staffer discretion, is simply "to help him accomplish his priorities."

...

Even with Obama increasingly absent, Rouse plays a major advisory role. In June, as aides worried that Obama's media operation wasn't responding quickly enough to the veteran Clinton team, Rouse helped engineer a shift in roles: Gibbs, who has worked with Obama since the 2004 Senate campaign, would travel with the candidate, while Pfeiffer would return from the road and help manage the media office in Chicago.

All good reads. Check 'em out!

[gateley]

1. I almost don't have to read any more than:

"Rouse also is credited with persuading Obama to vote against the nomination of John G. Roberts"