Emanuel Accepts Job as Obama's Chief of Staff

Newly installed White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and President-elect Barack Obama. Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast of the Associated Press

llinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has accepted the job as President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff, a move ensuring that a seasoned Washington insider with deep knowledge of both Congress and the national political landscape will be at Obama's right hand in the White House.

"Though Rahm understands how to get things done in Washington, he still looks at the world from the perspective of his neighbors and constituents on the Northwest Side of Chicago, who work long and hard, and ask only that their government stand on their side and honor their values," Obama said in a statement announcing the move this afternoon.

Of his decision, Emanuel said: "I'm leaving a job I love to join your White House for one simple reason -- like the record amount of voters who cast their ballot over the last month, I want to do everything I can to help deliver the change America needs."

Emanuel was elected to Congress in 2002 to a strongly Democratic Chicago-area seat once held by legendary Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski. He rapidly rose through the ranks of the Democratic Caucus -- serving as the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and then as the Caucus Chairman over the last two years.

But, Emanuel's experience prior to coming to Congress as an elected official may be more instructive when seeking to understand what sort of chief of staff he will be.

During the 1988 election cycle, Emanuel served as national field director at the DCCC under then Chairman Beryl Anthony (Ark.) and then spent the better part of the 1990s affiliated in one way or another with the campaign and then presidency of Bill Clinton.

Emanuel oversaw fundraising during the presidential campaign of Clinton and held several positions in the White House, first as political director, then manager of special legislative efforts, and finally as senior adviser.

One former Clinton Administration official compared Emanuel to a defensive end in football. "Very smart, super quick and agile, but getting hit by him, particularly when you were blindsided, felt like being run over by a truck," said the source.

Over those fifteen years as a staffer, Emanuel earned a take-no-prisoners reputation and a nickname -- "Rahmbo" -- to go with it. At times he was blunt to a fault, and alienated some of his administration colleagues.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) seized on Emanuel's partisan reputation to condemn the choice.

"This is an ironic choice for a President-elect who has promised to change Washington, make politics more civil, and govern from the center," said Boehner in a statement.

But, Emanuel allies argue that the image of the Illinois Congressman as a partisan brawler is more myth than reality.

Emanuel regularly speaks with current White House chief of staff Josh Bolton and has even attended a baseball game with the Republican. He counts Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of John McCain's closest allies, and retiring Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as friends. And, Emanuel's allies point to SCHIP legislation and a G.I. Bill of Rights as examples of where he worked across the aisle to secure support.

Our sense on Emanuel is that he is the ultimate political pragmatist. He understands that Obama was elected in part (a major part) due to his promise to change the way politics is conducted in Washington. Does that mean Emanuel's tough minded approach to the intersection of politics and policy change? Absolutely not. But it does mean that Emanuel will understand that reaching across the aisle for Republican support is absolutely essential to Obama's political brand and will look for opportunities to do so.