With all signs pointing to Representative Rahm Emanuel becoming Barack Obama's White House Chief of Staff, some folks have responded with confusion and others with nervous approbation. I've also received e-mails criticizing the decision outright.
Well, I think it's a good idea. Emanuel knows how to run a staff, and a White House staff at that. He also knows the Hill and has the respect of leadership in both chambers (and both parties). He knows how to win politically and policy-wise. One of the biggest mistakes that a president can make is choosing an inexperienced or ineffective CoS, and Obama is now showing that he's learned from history.
Why would Emmanuel take the job, knowing that in five or ten years he could be running the House of Representatives as Majority Leader or Speaker? One, people who might know have suggested that Emanuel has wanted to be a top aide to a transformational president and feels a duty to serve an administration he believes in (and to serve a friend). Two, whatever you might say, he's not as crazy as his media image suggests -- he has mellowed over the years -- and he cares much more about policy than most people realize.
To address Ezra's worries that the potential Chief of Staff is a policy minimalist: Perhaps. I think a lot of that reputation comes from working with Bill Clinton and co-writing a book with Bruce Reed, a man not known for his big ideas. Emmanuel has been advising Obama since the primaries, so I'm not too worried that Obama's approach to policy making will change that drastically even if the Chicago representative acquires a larger role. But Emanuel had a big idea before a lot of other people did: That Democrats could take back the House of Representatives and change the electoral map in the country. And then he went out and did it. If you're looking for a bold Democrat to run your White House operation, I'm not sure you could find anyone bolder.
--Tim Fernholz
