The media have identified the problem with the Obama presidency and want her tarred and feathered.Or just fired. Or sidelined. Or made an ambassador to some faraway land.
Her name is Valerie Jarrett.
White House aide and longtime Chicago pal of Barack and Michelle Obama has been a target roughly from the day she stepped foot in Washington.
But now, in the wake of the Democrats’ midterm wipeout, the press is really unloading on her. She has become the scapegoat-in-chief.
The notion that a single staff person is responsible for most of the administration’s shortcomings over the last six years is rather far-fetched. Whether it’s ObamaCare or the VA or immigration or ISIS or Syria, it’s the president who is making the decisions and selling them. If the principal problem, as the president told Bob Schieffer on “Face the Nation,” was a failure to adequately communicate his policies, then the man with the bully pulpit must take most of the blame.
But the press has a shakeup mentality: all major political defeats must be followed by some kind of housecleaning. And reporters are getting tired of the story line about Obama essentially brushing off the debacle. So the journalistic knives are out for Jarrett.
It’s not hard to understand why. As a personal pal, Jarrett is easy to cast as the embodiment of the insularity of the White House. As the president’s protector, she has a track record of ticking off other administration officials. At the same time, Jarrett has no public successes attached to her name. And when she’s on television, she appears a rather robotic defender of her boss.
Although I’m told it’s a coincidence, it’s striking that Politico and the New Republic have both published tough pieces on Jarrett at roughly the same time. And these arguments brought a vigorous defense from Mika Brzezinski, with the “Morning Joe” co-host calling the attacks “sexist.” More on that in a moment.
White House officials believe the Politico essay has undertones of sexism, given that no questions are being raised about male advisers in similar, far-reaching roles.
The officials also see the criticism as providing a skewed view of Jarrett's role, which includes outreach to state and local officials and advocacy groups. She's hardly the only insider who offers advice outside her official duties, in this view, and keeps her friendship with the First Couple separate.
About as close to Fair and Balanced as MSM will be about the issue. Obviously they are still CYA for Obama.