Bill Daley's tenure as White House chief of staff has proven to be more difficult than administration insiders had expected. When he was brought in, Daley, a former Commerce Secretary and banking executive, was supposed to help improve relations with Congress, set the stage for constructive negotiations with Republicans, and strengthen White House ties with business leaders.

It was practically a replay of the Clinton White House's post-1994 strategy. It made a degree of sense that President Obama and his team brought in a leading Clinton guy to execute that strategy.

The effort didn't go well. Congressional Democrats have found Daley hard to work with (Harry Reid, in particular, was known to have complained about Daley directly to the president); Republicans don't want to negotiate with anyone about anything, and the White House has adopted a more combative tone overall.

In November, Daley's responsibilities “shiftedâ€