Little is known at this time other than the fact that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has announced to his staff that he will be leaving his position completely. The Huffington Post has released the announcement but no additional information has been provided. Gibbs has been an adviser since the beginning of Barack Obama in 2004, setting out as a Senator on his path to Presidency. He was a member of the original trio; David Axelrod, David Plouffe, and Robert Gibbs. One the campaign trail he was the entire backstage operation to Obama's voice, writing virtually all press releases and speeches for the reputably well-spoken President.Why the aberration? I personally attribute it to the stress. Who wants to deal with all this shit everyday? Constantly forced to develop stories and twist truth to cover and uncover the inner working of the ever-complex oval office. The Washington Post speculates that Gibbs is simply moving on to bigger and more profitable things. A government salary is substantial, but creating your own consulting company for campaigns has potential to be much more lucrative. Having the title as of "Press Secretary" to the most powerful man in America on your resume definitely bolsters your credibility as a sagacious political consultant, not to mention all the inside knowledge this guy has accrued over the past 7 years.
With the new Congress in place, is Gibbs simply running away from adversity and what is sure to add a few more gray hairs on his head, or is his decision purely driven by financial success and personal achievement desire? It will be interesting to see who will take his place. Currently the highest bidder is JP Morgan executive and former Secretary of Commerce Bill Daley. I look forward to seeing if this resignation is a start of a pattern in an unusually stable executive branch staff.
The other part of this is simply that Obama lost confidence in Gibbs and basically fired him, politely asking him to start setting up for the reelection campaign.
ReplyDeleteDoubtful. I think Gibbs is a little more comfortable dishing it out then he was at taking it and this gives him the opportunity to step outside of the governance and back to the campaign trail where he's better suited.
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