Obama's Sperling Appointment May Anger Left Wing

President Barack Obama is set to name Gene Sperling to replace Larry Summers as head of the National Economic Council Friday. And that means he’s also set to further alienate the Democratic Party’s left wing, Politico reports. That’s because, heaven forbid, Sperling happens to hold some moderate views.

As special adviser to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Sperling helped lead the negotiations for last year’s tax compromise with Republicans. He also was head of the NEC under President Bill Clinton. And even though he was known for being more liberal than former Treasury Secretaries Larry Summers and Robert Rubin, lefties are worried about Sperling.

“It is has absolutely no relation to what he has done inside or outside of government,” Neera Tanden, who worked with Sperling in the Clinton administration and is now chief operating officer at Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, tells Politico. “This is just a complete mischaracterization of who he is.”