Valerie Jarrett: The real center of Obama's inner circle

By Dana Milbank
WashPost
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The capital is abuzz this week over who would be the new White House chief of staff if Rahm Emanuel goes home to Chicago to pursue his mayoral dream.

While that's an interesting question (the likely answer, at least on an interim basis, is longtime Hill staffer Pete Rouse, now a White House adviser), it doesn't tell you where the real power would be in the West Wing. It would reside upstairs from the Oval Office, in the second-floor quarters of Valerie Jarrett.

The departure of Emanuel and economic adviser Larry Summers, to be followed in the spring by the exit of David Axelrod, would leave Jarrett, Obama's longtime mentor and friend, in a position of unparalleled influence over the president -- for better or worse.

Certainly, Jarrett fills an important role for Obama: She has deep and personal ties to the president, as well as undivided loyalties, and can talk honestly to him on a first-name basis. But current and former White House officials I spoke with raised questions about Jarrett's effectiveness and judgment.

(More here.)