By The Associated Press
From The Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s decision to leave City Hall, announced Tuesday, set in motion a chain of events that could ultimately lead to a leadership shuffle at the White House.
Rahm Emanuel, the president’s chief of staff, has been pining for that office for months, telling people he wanted to leave the Obama administration to run for mayor if Daley, a friend, decided not to.
Fresh on the heels of Daley’s announcement, Emanuel avoided saying anything about his own plans, instead releasing a one-sentence statement praising Daley’s time in office.
But staffers at the White House expect that Emanuel will run, one administration official said, recalling what the chief of staff said several weeks ago: “If and when Rich doesn’t run, I’ll do it.”
A longtime resident of Chicago’s north side, Emanuel served as a member of Congress and as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the post from which he helped engineer the party’s takeover of the House of Representatives in 2006.
His departure would change the Obama administration in significant ways, in large part by tempering the strong Chicago influence over the West Wing. Along with Chicago friends and senior advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett, Emanuel presides over a circle of aides who have a long history with each other and share an intense loyalty to the president.
As a veteran of the Clinton White House, Emanuel stayed out of the Democratic presidential primary matchup between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, his friend from Chicago. Yet he was Obama’s first choice to become chief of staff after the president’s 2008 victory.
From the start, Emanuel made it clear he wanted to return to Chicago and run for mayor, always pointing out that he would not run against Daley.
“You know that even when I was in Congress I wanted to be mayor,” Emanuel told the Tribune Washington Bureau during a March interview.
But he and his wife, Amy Rule, soon signed their children up for another year of school in the Washington area, planning for what seemed like the likelihood that Daley would run again.
On Tuesday, Emanuel said the mayor’s decision took him by surprise.
“While Mayor Daley surprised me today with his decision to not run for reelection, I have never been surprised by his leadership, dedication and tireless work on behalf of the city and the people of Chicago,” he said in his prepared statement.
Axelrod, who worked with Emanuel on Daley’s first election, said they both were stunned by the news that the mayor isn’t running.
“We both strongly assumed that he was,” Axelrod said. “So we’re just absorbing that news and the impact that it will have in Chicago, which will be large.”
That didn’t stop official Washington from delving into speculation concerning White House succession possibilities.
If Emanuel leaves to run in next February’s mayoral election, leading contenders to replace him at the White House include Jarrett; Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain; former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; Obama’s former Senate chief of staff, Pete Rouse; and the two current assistant chiefs of staff, Mona Sutphen and Jim Messina.
An Emanuel departure likely would happen in the wake of the congressional midterm elections this November. Emanuel has hinted recently that he would not leave the White House without seeing the party through those battles.
Critics are not waiting for Emanuel to announce a run for the office to mount a counter-campaign. Bitter over Emanuel’s role in moderating the president’s health care proposal, liberal critics are circulating an online petition against him.
For the moment, Emanuel has other matters to worry about. Obama is stepping up his efforts to promote Middle East peace talks, for which Emanuel has been a key adviser.
“Rahm has a lot on his plate,” Axelrod said. “He has a pretty responsible job. And that’s what he’s focused on right now.”
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