The New York Daily News reports that Obama campaign political director Patrick Gaspard will be the White House political director. There's already been some controversy over the White House Office of Political Affairs office and some demands that the directorate be eliminated; I argued that the office was a good idea. The president -- who is one political actor among many -- simply shouldn't be flying blind. And so, though we haven't heard an official yes or no on keeping the office itself, it seems that there will be someone whose job will be handling the vital work of what I like to call policy making by other means.
See also GOP operative Ed Rollins' defense of the office this morning.
--Tim Fernholz
