Hallowe'en in the West Wing

When the ranks of advisors had thinned
Who, for rest or reward, did rescind,
One could hear, while alone,
The faint, mournful moan
Of the shifting political wind.

The departure of - and (heretofore) lack of replacements for - Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag (middle), Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (2nd from right) and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers (back to camera) have left an eerie emptiness in the President's senior advisory group, on the Hallows' Eve before Election Day.