Obama staff combines D.C. with Chicago

updated 3:47 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama is forming a White House leadership team that combines experienced Washington insiders who can help build a bridge with Congress and trusted associates who share his Chicago roots.

The West Wing appointments that Obama has announced in recent days stand in contrast to those of George W. Bush, who relied heavily on fellow Texans for top posts. They had virtually no experience dealing with Congress, nor did the former Texas governor who was their boss.

Obama comes to the Oval Office with an ambitious list of campaign promises that will require Capitol Hill's cooperation and approval, and his team is heavy on the legislative experience that Obama is lacking. He resigned his Illinois Senate seat Sunday after just under four years of service, half of which he spent out on the presidential campaign trail.

During that time, Obama had Pete Rouse as his Senate chief of staff to take care of his business on the Hill. On Sunday, Obama named Rouse to be a senior adviser in his White House. Rouse has 24 years of experience as a top Senate aide, also running the offices of former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Obama's Illinois colleague, Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin.

Other names starting to roll out
Other names that have begun to roll out in recently come with varying degrees of Washington experience. Obama is drawing on accomplished Chicago friends, longtime congressional aides and former Clinton administration officials, including some with ties to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The new chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., combines the Chicago roots and the legislative connections. Vice President-elect Joe Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain held the same role for Vice President Al Gore.

Obama has picked Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina as his deputy chiefs of staff. Like Rouse, Messina has served as chief of staff for three different lawmakers — Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont, Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y. — and has a vast network of relationships to show for it that he can tap on Obama's behalf.

Philip Schiliro, who has more 25 years experience working for Congress, is Obama's liaison to Capitol Hill.

Biden, a longtime senator from Delaware, has said he intends to be a frequent voice on the Hill and use his 36 experience as a lawmaker to promote the administration's agenda. That's a departure from Vice President Dick Cheney, who only appeared occasionally on the Hill to meet with Republican members and cast a tie-breaking vote.

Obama is keeping some campaign advisers close in the West Wing. He has named longtime confidant Valerie Jarrett as a senior White House adviser and is expected to bring along Robert Gibbs as press secretary and David Axelrod as another senior adviser.

The senior adviser title is a vague one, but those who fill it can have held vast authority. Karl Rove and Karen Hughes had the title at one time in Bush's White House, and each had very different but influential role — Rove was the political strategist with a big say over policy while Hughes was the chief communications specialist.

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