Rocky Barker/Idaho Statesman (pictured in inset) is correct when he posts that cherry-red Idaho has a great deal of influence at the table in the next administration of Barack Obama:

Two Idahoans have very large seats at the table of executive power after Tuesday. Jim Messina, who grew up in Boise and graduated from Boise High School led Obama’s reelection campaign that observers said used a mix of behavioral science and technology to identify and get out to vote a new crop of voters to the coalition. He has now kept his election victory record intact since he ran a campaign for former Missoula Mayor Dan Kemmis in 1993. The sky seems to be the limit for his future. Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff Bruce Reed grew up in Coeur D’ Alene, the son of environmental attorney Scott Reed and former Democratic Senator Mary Lou Reed. He was credited by former President Bill Clinton as co-author of his powerful convention speech that energized Democratic activists. More here.

Question: Did you know the most influential political figures in Idaho are Democrats?

On his Facebook wall, opinionator Kevin Richert of the Idaho Statesman mentions the props that former President Bill Clinton game former Coeur d'Alene High grad Bruce Reed for his input into the speech that wowed the Demcractic National Convention:

He didn't mention Idaho by state, but former President Bill Clinton said a former Idahoan had a hand in crafting his speech before the Democratic National Convention. The Idahoan in question: Bruce Reed, chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden and the son of former state Sen. Mary Lou Reed of Coeur d'Alene. Clinton discussed the speech Thursday on Comedy Central's “The Daily Show.” The mention of Reed starts about one minute in, and goes to about the 1:30 mark. Video here.

Question: Do you know much about Bruce Reed?

My profile of former Idaho Democratic operative John Stocks ran Sunday and included quotes from two other talented Dems, Bruce Reed and Jim Messina. What unites the three? All sought their fortunes elsewhere in climates where politics are competitive. “We Democrats have lost too much of our seed corn,” laments former Gov. Cecil Andrus. “There's not a lot of future for Democrats right now in Idaho,” said Mary Lou Reed, a former Democratic senator from Coeur d'Alene who is Bruce Reed's mom and was a mentor to Stocks. Bruce Reed was the first to go, attending Princeton and then becoming a Rhodes Scholar. He went on to work for President Bill Clinton and now is Vice President Joe Biden's chief of staff. Bruce Reed jokes that Stocks supplanted him in his mom's eyes. “I always had to call ahead to make a reservation, because otherwise he was usually sleeping in my bedroom.” Mary Lou Reed countered: “No, no, no! Never that. He really didn't move in”/Dan Popkey, Statesman. More here.

Question: Can you blame John Stocks, Bruce Reed, and Jim Messina for leaving Idaho for bluer pastures elsewhere?

President Barack Obama, flanked by Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs Rob Nabors, left, and Chief of Staff to the Vice President Bruce Reed, eats lunch at the Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, Wednesday. Reed, of course, is a Coeur d'Alene High graduate and son of Scott & Mary Lou Reed of Fernan. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Question: Who did you have lunch with today?

Bruce Reed, along with his wife Bonnie LePard and children Julia LePard Reed, 17, and Nelson LePard Reed, 15, are shown at the home of their grandparents Jim and Barbara LePard on the east side of Lake Coeur d'Alene last August. Reed has been selected as the chief of staff for Vice President Joe Biden.

Vice President Joe Biden has named a centrist Democrat and veteran of the Clinton administration as his chief of staff. Bruce Reed (a Coeur d'Alene High graduate and son of Scott & Mary Lou Reed) served as chief domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton, helping secure passage of landmark welfare reform and Clinton's education agenda. He most recently was executive director of President Barack Obama's bipartisan fiscal commission. Reed has a long working relationship with the vice president. He helped then-Sen. Biden craft the 1994 Biden Crime Bill. Reed replaces Ron Klain, who left Biden's office earlier this month/Associated Press. More here. And: Alison Boggs wrote a story about Bruce Reed last August here.

Reaction?

The morning after Inauguration Day, Maureen Dowd marveled at “the patience that America is extending to Mr. Obama.” The day after President Obama lost two appointees to tax problems, she chastised him in a column titled, “Well, That Certainly Didn’t Take Long.” No matter how many times the president warns us that the nation’s problems won’t be solved overnight, the chattering classes are already buzzing, “But you’ve had two weeks!” Don’t let the “Change-o-Meter” get you down: While Tom Daschle’s exit on Tuesday was a deeply painful loss for the Obama White House, the new president is still off to a good start, and the long-term prospects for his agenda are as strong as ever/Bruce Reed, Slate. More here.

Question: Do you agree with Coeur d’Alene native Bruce Reed that President Obama is off to a good start? Why? Why not?