Here's an appointment to the President-elect Barack Obama's new administration that should really make Hardball's Chris Matthews happy. He's hired Ari Gold's brother -- sort of. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, has accepted the job as White House Chief of Staff, and the Congressman's brother Ari Emanuel is the inspiration for Jeremy Piven's character Ari Gold on Entourage. Just like Ari on HBO, Ari Emanuel is Hollywood's toughest agent and Endeavor Talent Agency is the tops in the business. Ari's brother Rahm has a reputation for being just as ambitious, aggressive and forceful. He likes to play hardball and has been known to twist arms and bust heads, metaphorically, to get things done.
In 2006, Emanuel was credited with making sure that the Democrats did really well in the mid-term elections, and they did, taking a majority in the Senate and adding a number of seats in the House of Representatives.
Rahm Emanuel has other TV ties besides Entourage. Before being elected to the House of Representatives, the Chicago native was an integral part of President Bill Clinton's White House. The character of Josh Lyman -- Bradley Whitford -- on The West Wing was supposedly based on Rahm Emanuel.
There's no Donna in the picture, however. Rahm is married and has three kids. Maybe that's what happened to Josh after he got Matt Santos elected president following President Bartlett's administration.
By the way, Emanuel's nickname is Rahm-Bo, a nod to Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, another tough guy character. The legend of Rahm-Bo includes an incident in which he "mailed a rotting fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-07-2008 @ 6:43PM
MJL said...
Only a week late on this story! Getting better, TV Squad!
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/whaddaya-mean-my-bro-wont-take-my-call/
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11-07-2008 @ 8:15PM
Bart Smith said...
Matt Santos was based on Obama.
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11-07-2008 @ 8:35PM
Christopher said...
C'mon America, lets hug it out bitch?
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11-07-2008 @ 10:17PM
Bart Smith said...
And while we're on this topic...
Every time a new name is mentioned as a possibility for a position in Obama's White House administration, the first thing I do is go to the Wikipedia cast page for THE WEST WING to which character that job corresponds.
Reply
11-08-2008 @ 3:29PM
Richie said...
Being both a West Wing junkie and a political junkie in general, it's pretty amazing to see the parallels between the show and reality. Not just the big obvious ones (young non-white senator running against a much older and much more experienced Republican senator with an older wizened vice-president candidate), but the fact that Santos/Obama picked Josh Lyman/Rahm Emanuel to be their chief of staff.
So, for future reference:
Obviously, president Barlett and Santos = Obama
VP Hoynes = Biden
Press secretary CJ = Robert Gibbs
Chief of Staff Leo and Josh = Rahm Emanuel
Senior Advisor to the President was Leo for a bit near the end, and a random assortment of other people, but in real life is David Axelrod
11-08-2008 @ 12:51AM
Joseph said...
That is totally cute. I weren't a political junkie (and I was still interested in watching the West Wing) I would do the same, I'm sure.
11-08-2008 @ 8:44AM
Bart Smith said...
Don't get me wrong, I'm a total political junkie. I just find it easier to picture how things work inside the White House by looking at things through the lens of THE WEST WING.
11-08-2008 @ 4:31AM
Mike said...
"mailed a rotting fish to a former coworker after the two parted ways."
this is the kind of guy that is going to help obama reach across party lines?
I think even the Clinton adminastration demoted this guy.
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11-08-2008 @ 3:29PM
Richie said...
The Chief of Staff's job isn't to reach across party lines, it's to coordinate the White House in sync with the President. The Chief of Staff isn't going to be a Republican in a Democratic White House, and he's definitely not going to be a softy (the job is so tough that out of the last 10 chiefs, only one of them stayed on for a whole term).
Oh, and btw, thank you for doing your part to spread BS. Emanuel wasn't fired by Clinton, he actually did a huge amount of work to fundraise for him and then was his policy and strategy advisor. Then Emanuel left, on his own accord, to become an investment banker. He was never fired.
11-08-2008 @ 5:05AM
Modwild said...
Wow - this sure as hell makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about his initial choices as the man in the highest office in the US. Can't wait for the next four years, entertainment wise, anyway.
Jesus...don't tell me this stuff in the future. I'd rather not know.
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11-14-2008 @ 12:56PM
J. A. Penn said...
Rahm Emanuel!! GOOD choice! It is no surprise to me that so many people are already trying to second-guess the very brilliant President-Elect's choices. It has been proven that he knows how to surround himself with people at every level who know what they are doing and go about doing it. So.....Go Rahm!
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