Opinion: Social media wrap: Dee Dee Myers tweets that Robert Gibbs likely is out, Bill Burton in
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Are the wheels of history syncing for Democratic press secretaries?
Dee Dee Myers, Bill Clinton’s press secretary and the first woman to hold that post -- and also the latest left-leaning luminary to join Twitter -- tweeted Wednesday that she (like many others) expects Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to leave his post after the midterms and be replaced by his deputy Bill Burton.
Key to note here is that Myers herself departed Clinton’s White House after the Democrats’ disastrous 1994 midterms that saw a historic realignment when Republicans took back the House after 40 years.
She tweeted: In post mid-term WH shuffle, look for capable Bill Burton to succeed Gibbs as press sec.
A slew of Clinton officials departed following the midterms, a pattern that’s already apparent in....
...Obama’s administration. Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel could confirm his widely expected departure (to run for mayor of Chicago) as soon as Friday, while senior aide David Axelrod has signified he’ll step down next year to run Obama’s reelection campaign. Economic guru Larry Summers is also out alongside Christina Romer, the head of the Council of Economic Advisers, and Peter Orszag at the Office of Management and Budget.
Gibbs, who is expected to take up an advisory role in the administration, told the Associated Press earlier this month that ‘this is a time in which people who have given two years of service return to things that they were doing beforehand. I don’t doubt that that will happen in ... this administration like it has in many of the previous.’
Burton, Myers’ predicted replacement for Gibbs, occasionally steps up to answer questions in Gibbs’ absence. On Tuesday he took reporters’ questions en route to Wisconsin, where he batted back their inquiries on Vice President Joe Biden’s “buck up” quip, the Chicago Bears’ win over the Green Bay Packers on ‘Monday Night Football,’ and whether President Obama put a 20% down payment on his first house. A long-time tweeter with more than 14,000 followers, Bill Burton was Obama’s national press secretary during his presidential campaign.
Myers has weighed in on Democratic politics several times after joining Twitter several days ago. Her tweets include:
+RT chucktodd Few ways to look at the mini-Dem bump in today’s new NBC-WSJ poll: base Dems starting to tune in, natural tightening, campaign now engaged
+If the prez chooses Rouse as interim COS, it allows him to delay permanent decision until after the mid-terms.
+ Rahm will be harder to replace than people realize: deep on substance, smart on politics.,tough as nails. all that with only 91/2 fingers!
Myers contributes to Vanity Fair and is the author of “Why Women Should Rule The World.”
-- Craig Howie