In the Inner Circle, a Spokesman in Waiting (Robert Gibbs)

In the Inner Circle, a Spokesman in Waiting

By JIM RUTENBERG
Published: November 7, 2008

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In taking over the White House lectern, Mr. Gibbs will be a press secretary with the closest relationship to an incoming United States president in memory.

He is one of three aides who have formed the inner circle of the Obama campaign, first working as Mr. Obama’s communications director and, later, as a traveling senior adviser almost constantly by his side.

Mr. Obama’s other two closest aides — David Axelrod, his chief strategist, and David Plouffe, his campaign manager — hired Mr. Gibbs when Mr. Obama was running for the United States Senate in 2004, and the three have served as a protective ring around their candidate.

Mr. Gibbs’s close ties with Mr. Obama give him unusual knowledge of his thinking, but it also could pose challenges as he fulfills his duties: besides advocating publicly for his boss in the Oval Office, the White House press secretary also traditionally advocates internally for the Fourth Estate (a balance that is often more in evidence in the fictional “West Wing,” than in the real one).

Mr. Gibbs, 37, is known to relish combat, but also to show a gentler side. On the campaign plane, he could be gregarious and friendly with reporters, sharing gossip and gabbing over sports or food.

But reporters also complained during the campaign that he could be unresponsive at times while at other times he would battle vigorously with them over issues with coverage.

In an interview, Mr. Gibbs said he was loath to talk about a job he had not formally been offered. He said, however, that the White House press office would follow through with Mr. Obama’s promise of transparency.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/us/politics/08gibbs.html?_r=1&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin