Rahm Emanuel Next White House Chief of Staff
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James Joyner | Wednesday, November 5, 2008 |
Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff?
NBC’s Mike Vigueira confirms a rumor that’s been circulating for several days:
Three House Democratic sources confirmed Rep. Rahm Emanuel has been offered a Chief of Staff job with an Obama White House and is currently “agonizing” over whether to take the job.
Emanuel is a much better fit as a politco than a legislator and one simply doesn’t turn down one’s president for such an important job. My colleague Dave Schuler, for one, would be thrilled. Friday, he offered two reasons:
The first reason is that he’s a smart, tough-minded guy and I’m sure he’d do a good job. The second reason is that, whomever the governor would appoint to fill his seat, those of us who live in the Illinois 5th District would stand a chance of getting a fulltime Congressman who’s actually interested in the district.
Indeed.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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James, your link is broken to Shuler.
Is Shuler saying that Emmanuel isn't a full time politician now? I know nothing about the man.
Fixed.
And, yes, Emmanuel has been busy running the House Democrats' fundraising and election effort.
Being a full-time politician and being a full-time representative for the Illinois 5th District are not synonymous. I'd've preferred the woman who ran against him in the Democratic primary the first time he ran. She'd lived in the district her entire life and was active in issues here and had no obvious ambitions other than to represent the district.
Chief of staff is the right job for him.
Dave -
I'm in Naperville. (Formerly in Chicago proper.) Have never focused on the fifth. That's one weird configuration.
Given that the West Wing character Josh Lyman was based on Emanuel, I'd say that's appropriate...
Why did the photographer go with the M.L. shot?
If Emanuel really is the choice, then so much for the prospect of any serious change in an Obama administration. Clearly, with John Podesta running most of the campaign, and Emanuel as COS, what we have here is a group of Clinton misadministration retreads.
