RT stands in for another Blue Eyes (RIP)

RT stands in for another Blue Eyes (RIP)

As President-elect Obama moves to fill staff positions in his transition team and administration, locals with ties to his candidacy and a desire to move to Washington, D.C., may reasonably hold out hope of being tapped. One post that already got away from the Minnesota crowd is that of White House press secretary — Politico reports this morning that Obama has chosen campaign and Senate aide Robert Gibbs, who’s from Alabama, to fill that high-visibility vacancy. Gibbs, who served as communication director at Obama for America, beat out Bill Burton, the campaign’s national press secretary and a University of Minnesota alum. Burton made Blois Olson’s MinnPost list of Minnesotans with Obama job prospects this week.

Also on Olson’s list is Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, an early advocate of the draft-Obama movement whose line on an Obama administration post I traced back in June. Rybak’s background as a reporter got him cited at the Minneapolis Issues list this week as a possible Obama spokester, but his potential as a federal Housing and Urban Development pick is more frequently raised. Any D.C. job would likely pose a work conflict with Rybak’s rumored 2010 gubernatorial ambitions.

The news today that U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel will be Obama’s chief of staff means Minnesotans may want to take advantage of any ties they have to the Illinois congressman. One is Ashwin Madia, with whom Emanuel campaigned on a special trip to Minnesota last month. The two pols “are good friends and enjoyed campaigning together. They are both incredibly smart, hard-working individuals. Whether that translates into something more in the future is anyone’s guess,” Madia spokesperson Dan Pollock wrote in response to an e-mail inquiry this morning.

Meanwhile the Minnesotan with the biggest job dangled before him is Gov. Tim Pawlenty. No longer the subject of vice-presidential speculation now that McCain passed him over for colder pastures, Pawlenty has moved up in the world and now gets daily press mentions as a presidential prospect in 2012, when he’d likely reprise his rivalry with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. She gets the same mentions as Pawlenty, of course, and more. But unlike Pawlenty, who campaigned hard for McCain (and his own place on the ticket) in the weeks and months leading up to the Republican National Convention, Palin has already made a place for herself in the national media spotlight, where she’s paid her dues — if not her Neiman Marcus bills.