When The New York Times published an unflattering story on White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett in September 2012, the Obama administration moved to minimize the damage.
It came in the form of a memo titled "The Magic of Valerie," which included 33 talking points, says Mark Leibovich in his upcoming book "This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral — Plus, Plenty of Valet Parking! — in America’s Gilded Capital."
BuzzFeed found a copy of the book already for sale at Newark international airport, and pulled a few of the salient talking points:
• Valerie is the perfect combination of smart, savvy and innovative.
• Valerie has an enormous capacity for both empathy and sympathy. She balances the need to be patient and judicious with the desire to get things done and work as hard as possible for the American people from the White House.
• To know what both drives Valerie Jarrett and why the President values her opinion so much, you benefit greatly from really getting to know the woman.
• Valerie expects people to work their hearts out for the President and never forget where you work and the magnitude.
• Valerie is someone here who other people inside the building know they can trust. (need examples.)
The last one — with "need examples" — was a favorite of both BuzzFeed and Rachel Weiner of
The Washington Post.
The Post, which also obtained an early copy, said the book also reports that some White House staffers believe Jarrett got Secret Service protection only because of her ego — Obama adviser David Axelrod had it, and she wanted it, too.
Axelrod's Secret Service detail was provided after information about him was found on the elderly shooter in the 2009 shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Jarrett and Axelrod were in fierce competition to be Obama's top adviser, Leibovich writes in his book.
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