Tony Shaffer: I Think John Kelly Will Succeed Where Others Have Failed

EXCERPT:

SHAFFER: "Well, two things. I think he’s coming in without a preconception of how it should be. And look, I just heard Andy Card earlier, with all due respect to Andy Card, it's --  that everybody wants to manage from nostalgia. This was the way it was, this is the way it should be. It ain’t. I think General Kelly accepts reality fro what it is, and he's going to manage from that point of -- point of view. Secondly, along that line, there are things he can do, there are some things he can’t do, and I think he’s going to be able to figure out very quickly, based on his experience, what he can and cannot do. And the other thing, Chris, he has which I think others have not maybe noted as much as they should, he was actually working as the U.S. Marine Corps senior officer on Capitol Hill from 2004 to 2007 during a very tumultuous time, post 9/11 and working on a number of key issues. So I think he, General Kelly has been -- both been able to understand how to navigate in this town and be effective in navigating this town. I think that’s something Reince Priebus never really was able to achieve. Look, he had a great deal of political experience in dealing with Republicans, but I don’t think he understood how to work the mechanisms of all the government. That’s something General Kelly’s had to learn to do, not simply the Marine Corps but how DoD works, how the State Department works, how other things work. And I do believe where he lacks direct influence or understanding, I think he’ll have enough wisdom to reach out to someone to help him figure that -- that out. So, I think that’s where he’s going to succeed where others have failed."