Washington’s Leak-Prone Culture

The Washington Post‘s Chris Cillizza has a piece detailing what has become a new phenomenon for Barack Obama — leaks.

Cillizza writes of the “culture of leaks,” which may also be attributed to the culture of Washington. The Obama campaign, rightly, has been noted for being a tight, disciplined unit. This includes the dearth of leaks coming from within the campaign, especially compared to the McCain camp. Part of this comes down to location, location, location. Chicago is far removed from the D.C. chatter-circuit. The campaign’s location meant that staffers had to “buy in” completely, creating its own discipline. Similarly, the 1992 Clinton campaign, headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., and the Austin-based Bush/Cheney campaign did not suffer the perennial leaking of Washington-based campaigns.

The problem has gotten so out of hand, transition chief John Podesta reportedly told staff, “If you leak, you’re gone.” That should be a hard and fast rule in general — anyone who has been involved in political campaigns can talk your ear off about getting a call from a reporter who knows all of the details of the small, closed-door meeting that just ended.

The leaks so far don’t threaten the transition, but demonstrate, as Cillizza notes:

“While the increase in leaks as Obama goes from candidate to president may not have any long-term impact on his presidency, it does show that no candidate — no matter how committed to changing Washington — can change certain parts of the Beltway culture.”