You know something strange is going on when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce offers kind words for the Obama administration.

But that's just what happened on Thursday, not long after news broke that Mr. Obama had selected JP Morgan Chase executive (and former Clinton administration commerce secretary) William Daley to be his new chief of staff. Daley replaces Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel, who left in October, and Peter Rouse, who has served in the interim.

"This is a strong appointment," Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue said. "Bill Daley is a man of stature and extraordinary experience in government, business, trade negotiations, and global affairs."

Despite the perception in some circles that Mr. Obama has a poor relationship with the business community - his memorable 2009 comments on "60 Minutes" that he "did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street" seems to have particularly stung - many on the left (and some on the Tea Party right) have long seen the White House as far too accommodating of business interests.

Bringing in Daley to work closely with President Obama has only exacerbated that perception.