2002-03-20
Former Clinton aide wins tight race for Democratic nod for Congress
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1) Former Clinton aide Rahm Emanuel won the Democratic nomination for Congress after a bitter campaign against former state Rep. Nancy Kaszak on Chicago's North Side.
2) Kaszak's campaign said she conceded after early returns showed her behind Emanuel, who is among a number of former Clinton administration officials running for office this year.
3) ``I feel great, but most importantly I'm humbled and honored,'' Emanuel said. ``It's moments like this that you remember all the good and all the bad but also all the strength you got from people and why you did this.''
4) With 98 percent of precincts reporting, Emanuel had 45,836 votes, or 50 percent. Kaszak had 35,026 votes, or 39 percent. The other six candidates, including another former Clinton aide, Pete Dagher, trailed far behind.
5) Emanuel is expected to have a big edge in November against any Republican in the heavily Democratic district. The winner in the fall will succeed Democratic Rep. Rod Blagojevich, who decided to give up the seat to run for governor.
6) Emanuel, a 42-year-old investment banker who has made millions since he left the White House, called on Clinton for fund-raising and campaign help. Emanuel also received endorsements from Mayor Richard M. Daley and other political heavyweights.
7) Kaszak, 51, a lawyer and longtime community activist, tried to portray Emanuel as an outsider from Washington, saying he just recently moved into the district and doesn't understand the needs and concerns of its residents like she does.
8) Two weeks ago, the race was marred by accusations of anti-Semitism. A Polish supporter of Kaszak suggested that Emanuel, who is Jewish, was a citizen of Israel and had served two years in the Israeli army. He also called Emanuel a ``millionaire carpetbagger who knows nothing about our values.''
9) The comments about Emanuel's supposed Israeli background are not true and Kaszak repudiated the remarks. But Emanuel contended the remarks reflected a ``whispering campaign'' of anti-Semitism against him in the district.
10) He said he ultimately won on ``the ideas I ran on.''
11) ``I am proud of the campaign I ran and I'm proud of the way the voters responded,'' he said.
12) Kaszak had the backing of Emily's List, a national group that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights. The group also criticized Emanuel for his work on passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement and as an investment banker making millions of dollars brokering mergers and acquisitions.
13) Emanuel and Dagher were among about a dozen veterans of the Clinton administration running for prominent political offices this year, including former Labor Secretary Robert Reich (Massachusetts governor), ex-Attorney General Janet Reno (Florida governor) and former White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles (U.S. Senate, North Carolina).
14) Emanuel and Dagher were the first of the group to face voters.
2008-10-30
Obama approaches lawmaker about White House post
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1) Barack Obama's campaign has approached Illinois congressman . Rahm Emanuel about possibly serving as White House chief of staff, officials said Thursday, looking ahead as the marathon presidential race entered its final, frenzied stretch with a Democratic tilt.
2) The Democrats who described the contact with Emanuel spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to be quoted by name.
3) Emanuel worked in President Bill Clinton's White House and is now a member of the House Democratic leadership. An aide, Sarah Feinberg, said in an e-mail that he "has not been contacted to take a job in an administration that does not yet exist."
4) Both Obama and his Republican rival, John McCain, have authorized aides in recent weeks to begin work on a transition to power, but only one of them will be in a position to make use of the results.
2008-11-05
Officials: Emanuel offered chief of staff job
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1) Democratic officials say Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel has been offered the job of chief of staff in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama.
2) It is not known whether Emanuel has accepted.
3) The disclosure came one day after Obama was elected president in an electoral college landslide. He takes office Jan. 20 as the first black president, and the 44th overall.
4) Emanuel is a former aide in Bill Clinton's White House. He was re-elected to Congress on Tuesday.
Officials: Emanuel offered chief of staff job
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1) President-elect Barack Obama chose Illinois lawmaker Rahm Emanual to be his White House chief of staff, his first selection for the new administration, Democratic officials said Wednesday.
2) If Emanuel accepts, the congressman would return to the White House where he served as a political and policy adviser to President Bill Clinton.
3) Several Democrats also said Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry was actively seeking appointment as secretary of State in the new administration.
4) Two campaign officials said the appointment of a chief of staff was not expected for at least a day.
5) Instead, they said Obama would issue a written statement announcing that his transition team would be headed by John Podesta, who served as chief of staff under Clinton; Pete Rouse, who has been Obama's chief of staff in the Senate; and Valerie Jarrett, a friend of the president-elect and campaign adviser.
6) The officials who described the developments did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss events not yet announced.
2008-11-06
Obama begins assembling team
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1) President-elect Barack Obama barely had time to savor his victory before he began filling out his new administration and getting a sobering look at some of the daunting problems he will inherit when he takes office in just 10 weeks.
2) As president-elect, Obama begins receiving highly classified briefings from top intelligence officials Thursday.
3) Already, Russia was threatening to put missiles alongside U.S.-ally Poland if President George W. Bush's plan for a missile defense shield in Europe is not repealed. In Afghanistan, U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai demanded that Obama "put an end to civilian casualties" by changing U.S. tactics to avoid airstrikes in the hunt for militants.
4) Obama on Tuesday night made history by being elected the first black U.S. president. But times are bleak: the country is in the grips of its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s and is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
5) Obama got a quick start with the transition Wednesday, calling on Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a fellow Illinois politician, to serve as White House chief of staff.
6) While several Democrats confirmed that Emanuel had been offered the job, it was not clear he had accepted. But rejection would amount to an unlikely public snub of the new president-elect swept toward power in an electoral college landslide.
7) Obama's staff said he would address the media by the end of the week, but Cabinet announcements were not planned that soon.
8) With hundreds of jobs to fill before his Jan. 20 inauguration, Obama and his transition team confronted a formidable task complicated by his anti-lobbyist campaign rhetoric.
9) The official campaign Web Site said no political appointees would be permitted to work on "regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration."
10) Because they often have prior experience in government or politics, lobbyists have routinely filled out the list of potential appointees for past presidents of both parties.
11) In offering the post of White House chief of staff to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Chicago politician with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination.
12) Emanuel was a political and policy aide in Bill Clinton's White House. Leaving that, he turned to investment banking, then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. In Congress, he moved quickly into the Democratic leadership. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.
13) Emanuel maintained neutrality during the long primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama.
14) The day after the election there already was jockeying for Cabinet appointments.
15) Several Democrats said Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won a new six-year term on Tuesday, was angling for secretary of state. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss any private conversations.
16) Kerry's spokeswoman, Brigid O'Rourke, disputed the reports.
17) In light of the financial crisis, Obama is expected to quickly name members of his economic team. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, who served in the Clinton administration, and Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, are among the names being mentioned for Treasury secretary.
18) Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has pledged to work with Obama to ensure a smooth transition. He has already set up desks and phone lines at the department where Obama's incoming Treasury team can work between now and the inauguration.
19) Obama's transition team is headed by John Podesta, who served as chief of staff under former President Bill Clinton; Pete Rouse, who has been Obama's chief of staff in the Senate, and Valerie Jarrett, a friend of the president-elect and campaign adviser.
20) Several Democrats described a sprawling operation well under way. Officials had kept deliberations under wraps to avoid the appearance of overconfidence before the election.
21) They said the group was stocked with longtime associates of Obama, as well as veterans of Clinton's White House.
22) Obama began his first full day as president-elect by having breakfast with his daughters, the type of everyday family activity he often had to sacrifice during the nearly two-year marathon campaign.
23) Afterward, Obama left the house, and spent an hour at a friend's apartment building, where he uses the gym. Then it was back home to clean up before heading to the office -- where he held a conference call to thank campaign staff around the country.
24) Asked how much sleep he'd gotten on the night of his historic victory, Obama told reporters: "Not as much as I'd like."
25) Obama planned to stay in Chicago through the week, with a quiet weekend at home. He was still trying to figure out arrangements regarding his grandmother, who died Sunday. A trip to Hawaii for the small private memorial she requested was likely by the end of the year.
26) In addition to the many decisions he faces in getting the Obama administration up and running, he has personal decisions to make, too. Such as when to move his family to Washington and where his 10- and 7-year-old daughters will go to school.
27) And then there was the matter of choosing the family pet. "Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House," Obama told his daughters in his victory speech to tens of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park.
28) In a congratulatory call to Obama Tuesday night, President George W. Bush pledged to make a smooth transition and extended an invitation to the Obama family to visit their new home at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
29) On Wednesday, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama spoke by telephone, and the first lady also invited her successor to visit the White House with her daughters, according to Michelle Obama's spokeswoman, Katie McCormick Lelyveld.
30) Lelyveld said a date for the visit would be set soon.
31) Defeated Republican candidate John McCain began discussing with senior aides what role he will play in the Senate now that he has promised to work with Obama in his concession speech.
32) One obvious focus will be the war in Iraq. After two years spent more on the campaign than in the Senate, McCain will return as the ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee. That will put the four-term Arizona senator in a position to influence Obama's plan to set a 16-month timeline to withdraw U.S. troops from combat in Iraq.
33) During the campaign, McCain staunchly opposed setting a deadline even as the Iraqi government began working with the Bush administration to do so.
34) But in conceding the presidency to Obama, McCain pledged "to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face."
35) Aides said they believed McCain would work well with Obama as president because much of his best work in the Senate had been done with Democrats, including a landmark campaign finance law he crafted with Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and an unsuccessful effort with Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
36) Democrats, who padded their majorities in the House and Senate, suggested McCain could mediate solutions to partisan standoffs on key legislation.
37) "There's a need for the old John McCain, a leader who worked in a bipartisan way," Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday.
38) McCain and his family planned to spend a few days at their vacation compound near Sedona, Arizona, to rest from the long contest.
Obama begins assembling team
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1) Facing the enormous task of assembling a new government, President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday closeted himself in Chicago for his first presidential-style intelligence briefing before moving into the White House in 10 weeks.
2) He planned his first public appearance since his presidential victory for Friday -- a meeting with economic advisers to discuss the nation's financial troubles, which Americans listed as their top concern on election day. Obama plans to talk to the news media Friday afternoon after the meeting, aides said.
3) He and his wife, Michelle, will visit the White House on Monday at the invitation of President George W. Bush, aides said.
4) His new government faces massive challenges both at home and abroad, as evidence made clear on the first days after his historic victory over Republican John McCain in Tuesday's election.
5) The U.S. stock market greeted his elevation to the pinnacle of American power by plunging nearly 500 points Wednesday on more dire news about an economy in the throes of its worst crisis since the 1930s Great Depression. It fell further on Thursday.
6) Meanwhile, the Kremlin sounded off as well, with President Dmitry Medvedev declaring: "Mechanisms must be created to block mistaken, egoistical and sometimes simply dangerous decisions of certain members of the international community" -- an apparent reference to the United States under Bush.
7) Medvedev issued the stark challenge even as he threatened to erect missiles along the Polish border if the Obama administration were to go forward with plans laid out by the Bush administration to create a missile shield in the Eastern Europe.
8) On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Obama -- the first time the country's leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
9) Ahmadinejad congratulated the Democrat on "attracting the majority of voters in the election." The text of the note was carried by the official IRNA news agency.
10) In the message, Ahmadinejad also said he hoped Obama will "use the opportunity to serve the (American) people and leave a good name" during his term in office.
11) Iran and U.S. have no formal diplomatic relations since 1979 and the hostage drama when militant Iranian students held 52 Americans captive 444 days.
12) The Associated Press, meanwhile, declared Obama the winner in North Carolina on Thursday, a symbolic triumph in a state that hadn't voted for a Democrat in more than a generation.
13) North Carolina's 15 electoral votes brings Obama's total to 364 -- nearly 100 more than necessary to win the White House. Missouri is the only state that remains too close to call.
14) Obama's win in North Carolina was the first for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter won the state in 1976.
15) The president-elect was quick out of the starting blocks Wednesday, calling on Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a fellow Chicago politician and veteran of the Bill Clinton White House, to serve as his chief of staff.
16) While several Democrats confirmed Emanuel had been offered the job, it was not clear he had accepted. But rejection would amount to an unlikely snub of the new president-elect swept toward power in an electoral college landslide.
17) Emanuel told a Chicago television station he was honored to be considered but needed to weigh the impact on his family.
18) "I have a lot to weigh: the basis of public service, which I've given my life to, a career choice. And most importantly, what I want to do as a parent," Emanuel said in an interview aired Wednesday.
19) Other White House officials were being lined up, including Robert Gibbs as the likely pick for press secretary, said several Obama aides. Gibbs has been Obama's longtime spokesman and confidant and was at Obama's side from his 2004 Senate campaign through the long days on the presidential campaign trail.
20) Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so that he and his staff can get some rest after a grueling campaign and the emotional rush of their win Tuesday night. He is planning a trip to Hawaii in December to get away with his family before their move to the White House -- and to honor his grandmother, who died Sunday at her home there.
21) In offering the post of White House chief of staff to Emanuel, Obama turned to a fellow Illinoisan with a far different style from his own, a man known for his bluntness as well as his single-minded determination.
22) Emanuel was a political and policy aide to Clinton before he turned to investment banking. He then won a Chicago-area House seat six years ago. In Congress, he moved quickly into the leadership. As chairman of the Democratic campaign committee in 2006, he played an instrumental role in restoring his party to power after 12 years in the minority.
23) Emanuel maintained neutrality during the long primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, not surprising given his long-standing ties to the former first lady and his Illinois connections with Obama.
Obama ' s pick for chief of staff has tough-guy rep
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1) Rep. Rahm Emanuel combines political instincts, White House experience and a Chicago tough-guy attitude -- traits that he's likely to need as President-elect Barack Obama's new chief of staff.
2) His combative style as political director in the early days of the Clinton administration earned him the nickname "Rahmbo," after the flame-throwing movie character Rambo. He didn't always produce results, though. Emanuel lost that job but stayed on as a senior adviser and oversaw some of Clinton's top initiatives, including the North American Free Trade Agreement and an assault-weapons ban.
3) After a lucrative stint in banking, Emanuel was elected to Congress in 2002 and quickly became a major power. He wound up overseeing the party's House election efforts in 2006 and won a majority for Democrats through tireless fundraising and candidate recruitment. Emanuel is now the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives as the Democratic Caucus Chair.
4) "He's a good tactician. He's a creative thinker. But I think what probably makes him most successful is that he has the will to follow his convictions," Rep. Danny Davis, a fellow Illinois Democrat, said after the 2006 victory.
5) Emanuel grew up in the ritzy Chicago suburb of Wilmette, the son of an Israeli doctor who moved to the United States. His brother, Ari, is a Hollywood agent and the inspiration for Ari Gold, the Type-A superagent on HBO's show "Entourage."
6) His start in politics came after college, when he worked for Paul Simon's 1984 Senate campaign and Richard Daley's run for Chicago mayor in 1989.
7) Then he went to work for a little-known Arkansas governor who wanted to be president.
8) Emanuel's fundraising skills are credited with helping keep Bill Clinton's campaign afloat during some rocky times, particularly during sexual scandals.
9) In 1999, Emanuel left the White House for Chicago to work in investment banking. The firm he joined was soon sold and Emanuel made millions, giving him the financial security to get back into politics.
10) When he was tapped to oversee the 2006 campaign effort, Emanuel led a record fundraising effort, bringing in far more money than four years earlier. The single biggest source of money was other members of Congress, which irritated some members who faced fierce pressure to contribute.
11) The additional money allowed House Democrats to expand the field, going into districts that hadn't been considered competitive before. That sometimes meant recruiting more conservative candidates, an Emanuel strategy that generated some complaints.
12) But his success in electing a Democratic majority soothed most hard feelings and confirmed Emanuel as a major force in the House -- perhaps even a future speaker.
2008-11-07
Obama meeting Friday with economic advisers
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1) President-elect Barack Obama was meeting Friday with economic experts to discuss the first steps toward healing the damaged U.S. economy as he forms a new administration in the face of a worsening crisis.
2) Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden were to meet with 17 members of their transition economic advisory board. Members include former presidential Cabinet officials and executives from Xerox Corp., Time Warner Inc., Google Inc. and the Hyatt hotel company. Famed billionaire investor Warren Buffett was participating by telephone.
3) "We're not starting from nowhere," said Lawrence Summers, a Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and one of the members of the advisory board.
4) "Throughout his campaign the president-elect has been talking about what we need to do. We need to put the middle class at the center of the policy approach in a way that it hasn't been these last years," Summers told NBC television Friday morning.
5) After the meeting, Obama is to hold a press conference that would be his first public appearance since he trounced Republican John McCain in Tuesday's election to become America's first black president.
6) Exit polls from the election showed that the economy was far and away the top issue for voters. More evidence of a recession came Friday when the government reported that the unemployment rate had jumped from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October.
7) Obama has been meeting privately with his transition team, receiving congratulatory phone calls from U.S. allies and intelligence briefings, and making decisions about who will help run his government after he is sworn in Jan. 20.
8) His first choice, for White House chief of staff, was Rahm Emanuel, a fiery partisan unafraid of breaking glass and hurting feelings. The choice of Emanuel is a significant departure from the soft-spoken, low-key aides that "No-Drama Obama" surrounded himself with during the campaign. And transition chief John Podesta, like Emanuel, is a former top aide to President Bill Clinton and a tough partisan infighter, though less bombastic than the new chief of staff.
9) The selections are telling for Obama, who campaigned as a nontraditional, almost "post-partisan" newcomer. People close to him say the selections show he is aware of his strengths and weaknesses, and knows what he needs to be successful as he shifts from campaigning to governing.
10) Obama and his wife, Michelle, planned to visit the White House on Monday at President George W. Bush's invitation.
11) Obama planned to stay home through the weekend, with a blackout on news announcements so he and his staff can rest after the grueling campaign and the rush of Tuesday night's victory.
12) Obama, who bested Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, has made it clear he will rely heavily on veterans of her husband's eight-year administration, the only Democratic presidency in the past 28 years.
13) Podesta was Bill Clinton's chief of staff, and several other former Clinton aides are on Obama's short lists for key jobs, Democratic officials say. Some helped write a large briefing book on how to govern, assembled under Podesta's supervision.
14) Obama also is certain to bring to the White House a cadre of longtime aides like senior adviser David Axelrod and press secretary Robert Gibbs. Both have worked closely with Obama since he ran for the Senate in 2004.
15) A steady stream of world leaders have congratulated Obama, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's statement marked the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
16) Iran and the U.S. have had no formal diplomatic relations since 1979 and the hostage drama when militant Iranian students held 52 Americans captive 444 days.
17) Obama spoke by telephone with other world leaders including Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
18) On Thursday, The Associated Press declared Obama the winner in North Carolina, a symbolic triumph in a state that hadn't voted for a Democrat since 1976. That brings Obama's electoral vote total to 364 -- nearly 100 more than necessary to win the White House. Missouri was the only state that remained too close to call.
2008-11-09
Obama steering clear of Dems battle over Lieberman
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1) President-elect Barack Obama is avoiding the issue of whether Sen. Joe Lieberman should remain chairman of an important committee.
2) Lieberman's affiliation with Democrats is in question after the Connecticut independent's high-profile support of Republican John McCain for president.
3) Lieberman has met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, but there has been no word on whether Reid intends to try to remove Lieberman as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
4) Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, says that what happens on Capitol Hill is the business of the House and Senate. Emanuel says the Obama administration's focus is on the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
5) Emanuel spoke on ABC's "This Week."
2008-11-13
Obama top aide apologizes to Arabs
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1) President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff apologized to the Arab-American community on Thursday for remarks his Israeli-born father made to an Israeli newspaper.
2) Last week, Benjamin Emanuel talked about his son Rahm Emanuel's new job and told the Israeli daily Ma'ariv that "obviously he'll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn't he? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to be mopping floors at the White House."
3) That prompted an outcry from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which called on Rahm Emanuel, who is Jewish, to condemn the "unacceptable smear."
4) On Thursday, Rahm Emanuel called the group's president, Mary Rose Oakar, to apologize on behalf of his family.
5) "These are not the values upon which I was raised or those of my family," the group quoted him as saying.
6) Oakar said the apology was accepted.
7) Emanuel spokesman Nick Papas confirmed the phone call and said Emanuel "offered to meet with representatives of the Arab-American community at an appropriate time in the future."
2008-11-14
Officials: Hillary Clinton being eyed for State
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1) President-elect Barack Obama has met with his former rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and is considering her as a possible candidate for secretary of state, Democratic officials said.
2) Clinton was rumored to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the top U.S. diplomat in an Obama administration. The talk resumed Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort.
3) A Democratic official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said the two met Thursday afternoon in Obama's Chicago office.
4) Clinton's motorcade -- she receives Secret Service protection as a former first lady -- was seen leaving the office complex shortly before Obama left for the day. Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines would say only "Senator Clinton had no public schedule yesterday," and referred questions to the Obama transition team, which said it had no comment.
5) Clinton pushed Obama hard during the campaign, and was rumored to be a possible pick for vice-president after she lost the nomination to the young Illinois senator. Obama instead chose veteran Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate, prompting speculation that that, among other reasons, he didn't want to be saddled with Clinton's restless husband, former President Bill Clinton.
6) Bill Clinton was cool toward Obama following the bruising nomination battle between Obama and his wife. However, any lingering animosity was put aside when both Clintons gave rousing endorsements of Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August, and later campaigned for him.
7) Since then, Obama has surrounded himself with several former staffers of Bill Clinton's presidency. Some of them are pushing Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. Other senators, including Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, also are thought to be under consideration.
8) The two Democratic officials who spoke Thursday did so on the condition of anonymity to avoid angering Obama and his staff.
9) In his first two weeks as president-elect, Obama has struck a bipartisan tone. He paired a Republican and a Democrat to meet with foreign leaders this weekend on his behalf in Washington, for example, and on Friday his transition office announced Obama would meet with vanquished Republican rival John McCain on Monday.
10) The meeting will be the first since Obama, the Democratic Illinois senator, beat McCain, an Arizona senator, by an Electoral College landslide in the Nov. 4 election.
11) "It's well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality," Obama spokesman Stephanie Cutter said in announcing the meeting.
12) Cutter also said the two will be joined at Obama's Chicago transition office by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a McCain confidant, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Illinois Democrat whom Obama has chosen to be his White House chief of staff.
2008-11-17
Obama to meet with McCain at transition office
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1) Once campaign rivals, President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are ready to talk about how they can collaborate on issues facing the United States.
2) A private meeting, slated for Monday at Obama's transition office in Chicago, will be the first since Obama beat McCain, the Republican candidate, in the Nov. 4 election.
3) Obama, who resigned his Senate seat on Sunday, has been interviewing some of his one-time political opponents to help him run the country, but advisers to the former candidates have said they don't expect Obama to consider McCain for an administration job.
4) The two will be joined by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a McCain confidant, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat Obama has chosen as his White House chief of staff.
5) Emanuel and Graham have worked together before on issues on Capitol Hill, and Graham jumped to Emanuel's defense when Republicans criticized his appointment as Obama's chief of staff.
6) In announcing the meeting on Friday, Obama's transition office said the president-elect and McCain "share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality."
2008-11-22
Chicago, Clinton camps feed Obama ' s incoming team
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1) Two main quarries are supplying the building blocks for President-elect Barack Obama's new administration.
2) Longtime, deeply loyal associates will dominate the White House inner sanctum. And veterans of Bill Clinton's presidency will hold vital jobs throughout the government, although a bit farther from the Oval Office.
3) The structure suggests Obama is confident enough to hand top posts to former rivals whose loyalty is not guaranteed, a strategy many presidents have avoided. But most of those on Obama's team who will have his ear everyday will be old friends and experienced advisers who are seen as having no ambitions beyond his success.
4) Obama raised eyebrows this month when he tapped some of Clinton's closest allies for important jobs.
5) John Podesta, Clinton's former White House chief of staff, is heading the transition effort. Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a former top Clinton adviser, is Obama's chief of staff. Former Clinton appointees Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano appear in line for Cabinet posts.
6) Even more startling to many, Obama has signaled plans to name former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state.
7) Some Obama supporters have praised him for reaching out to his toughest primary opponent. But others question why they worked so hard to defeat Clinton only to see her, and many close to her, grab prizes in the new administration. They note that Obama repeatedly campaigned against "the politics of the past" and Washington "dramas," thinly veiled jabs at the Clinton presidency as well as President George W. Bush's tenure.
8) Stephen Hess, a George Washington University authority on presidential transitions, said Obama is playing it smart.
9) "It's easy to make a leap that this is going to be a repeat of the Clinton administration and there's no way that's going to happen," said Hess, who first worked for the Eisenhower administration.
10) Obama needs a core of Democrats with federal government experience, Hess said, and veterans of Bill Clinton's administration are virtually the only source.
11) "The old-timers are exceedingly valuable to him now," he said, but Obama "also has his own group of advisers, and he will merge the two groups."
12) That merger began taking shape last week. Obama's three "senior advisers," who will have desks near the Oval Office, are some of his closest and longest-serving allies:
13) --David Axelrod, his Chicago-based media strategist, will focus on message and communications.
14) --Valerie Jarrett, a Chicago businesswoman and close family friend, probably will concentrate on intergovernmental relations and community outreach.
15) --Pete Rouse, who was Obama's Senate chief of staff, is expected to work closely with Emanuel on White House operations and congressional affairs.
16) In addition, Robert Gibbs, Obama's spokesman since his 2004 Senate race, is on track to be White House press secretary.
17) Another possible top pick, retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones as national security adviser, could give Obama a valuable hand in dealing with Hillary Clinton, a powerful figure who might not completely subordinate her political ambitions to those of the new president.
18) Obama feels close to Jones, aides say, and he might form an important part of the innermost circle even though the two men have not known each other as long as Obama has known Jarrett and Axelrod.
19) The task of coordinating all these efforts and bringing structure to the West Wing will fall largely to Emanuel, the fiercely competitive and sharp-tongued Chicagoan who is giving up his House leadership post to work for Obama. He is well-positioned to bridge the Obama and Clinton camps.
20) Emanuel made his political reputation as a brash young adviser to President Clinton. But his Chicago roots give him close ties to Obama and associates such as Axelrod and Jarrett.
21) One of Emanuel's biggest challenges will be regulating access to Obama and keeping him from being unduly distracted by well-meaning aides focused on their particular set of problems and ideas. Some people close to Obama think that Axelrod, Rouse, Jarrett, Gibbs and perhaps others will expect to have "walk-in" privileges at the Oval Office, meaning that at almost any time they can insist on seeing the man they have called "Barack" for years.
22) Such easy access has plagued past presidents, and Washington insiders will watch closely to see where Obama draws the line, even if it means bruising old friends' egos.
23) Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman in the Clinton White House, said the West Wing's cramped quarters and urgent business can lead to "a situation where the day becomes one rolling meeting that starts in the chief of staff's office and spills into the Oval Office."
24) The chief of staff must cope with huge amounts of chaos, tension and demands to insulate the president from all but the must important issues before him, she said.
25) Aides such as Axelrod and Gibbs probably will be able to see Obama on short notice without seeking Emanuel's permission, Palmieri said, but they certainly would inform Emanuel of their visit and its purpose.
26) "You have to establish access rules to the Oval Office up front," she said. Emanuel should be able to impose such discipline, she said, because "he's tough and direct with everyone, so no one has to take it personally."
27) Most presidents and their staffs need some time to find the right balance.
28) Bill Clinton brought to Washington several Arkansas associates, including boyhood friend Mack McLarty, his first White House chief of staff. McLarty had trouble imposing discipline on West Wing operations and was soon replaced by the no-nonsense Leon Panetta, Clinton's budget director and a former California congressman.
29) Virtually every new president surrounds himself with people he has known for years, even if they know little about the White House, Congress and the sometimes sharp-clawed worlds of Washington lobbyists and journalists. They adjust at varying rates.
30) President Jimmy Carter brought a cadre of aides from Georgia, including press secretary Jody Powell and key adviser Hamilton Jordan. They struggled at times to cope with the flood of problems and demands pouring in, and Carter famously spent time deciding who could use the White House tennis courts.
31) The current president was somewhat more successful with top aides who came with him from Texas. Karl Rove was his top political adviser for almost his entire presidency and masterminded Bush's 2004 re-election. Karen Hughes was Bush's communications and image guru in the first term.
32) Palmieri says the most successful administrations "have found an equilibrium between having staffs that are close to the president -- that he feels comfortable with and are looking out for his best interests -- with the experienced hands that can guide the ship."
33) So far, she said, Obama seems to be following that blueprint.
2008-11-23
2008-12-17
Bush hosting lunch for Obama, living ex-presidents
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1) President George W. Bush is hosting a lunch with all three living former presidents and President-elect Barack Obama next month.
2) The luncheon is set for Jan. 7. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush are coming, along with Obama.
3) Bush has made a smooth transition to the next administration one of his top priorities as his presidency winds down. Recently, White House chief of staff Josh Bolten hosted a similar event with all the living former chiefs of staff to offer advice and camaraderie to Obama's incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
4) White House press secretary Dana Perino announced the lunch Wednesday.
5) Obama takes office at noon Jan. 20.
2008-12-22
2008-12-23
Obama aide had multiple talks with Governor, aides
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1) An internal review prepared for Barack Obama found his incoming chief of staff had multiple conversations with the scandal-plagued Illinois governor's office, but said the talks did not involve any deal concerning whom the governor would appoint to replace Obama in the Senate.
2) The report was released Tuesday as a transition official disclosed that Obama and two of his top aides, Rahm Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett, have been interviewed in connection with the federal investigation into Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell Obama's vacant Senate seat.
3) The transition official, speaking on a condition of anonymity before the report's public release, also confirmed that Emanuel had been captured on wiretaps taken as part of the investigation.
4) Blagojevich was charged on Dec. 9 with plotting to use his governor's authority to appoint Obama's Senate replacement and make state appointments and contracts in exchange for cash and other favors. He has denied any criminal wrongdoing and has resisted multiple calls for his resignation, including one from Obama.
5) Incoming White House attorney Greg Craig, who conducted the internal review at Obama's request, found that the president-elect had no contact with Blagojevich or any of his staff about the Senate seat Obama vacated to take over the presidency.
6) Emanuel, Obama's pick for White House chief of staff, was the only Obama adviser to talk to Blagojevich and his top aide, John Harris, Craig found. The two men have been arrested as part of a federal corruption investigation.
7) Emanuel had one or two conversations with Blagojevich and four with Harris on the subject of the Senate seat, according to the review. The report said Obama authorized Emanuel to pass on the names of four people he considered to be highly qualified to take over his seat -- Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, Illinois Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
8) Craig revealed his findings in a memo to Obama. The memo was dated Tuesday, but a transition official said an initial copy was given to Obama on Dec. 15. On that day, Obama announced that the report was ready but that he was withholding it from public release for a week at the request of the U.S. attorneys still conducting their investigation.
9) In the meantime, the transition official said, Emanuel was interviewed by federal officials who replayed a wiretapped conversation for him. He then was able to give Craig more details about what he said, and those details were included in the final report, the transition official said. Transition officials discussed the final version with Obama on Monday as he vacationed in Hawaii.
2009-01-18
2009-01-20
Obama halts pending US regulations until reviewed
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1) One of President Barack Obama's first acts is to order federal agencies to halt all pending regulations until his administration can review them.
2) The order went out Tuesday afternoon, shortly after Obama was inaugurated president, in a memorandum signed by the new White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The notice of the action was contained in the first press release sent out by Obama's White House.
3) The waning days of former President George W. Bush's administration featured much debate over what rules and regulations he would seek to enact before he left office.
2009-03-01
Obama chief of staff criticizes ailing automakers
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff is criticizing U.S. car companies for relying too long on gas guzzlers and not investing enough in alternative energy vehicles.
2) Rahm Emanuel also says the automakers have an outdated health care cost structure. He says the companies are making the kind of changes now that many people long had told them to make.
3) Obama's auto task force is trying to restructure General Motors and Chrysler by a March 31 deadline. If the administration fails to approve their turnaround plans, earlier loans could be called back and the companies could be forced into bankruptcy.
4) GM and Chrysler have received $17.4 billion in loans, and are seeking an additional $21.6 billion.
5) Emanuel spoke on CBS television.
2009-04-03
Attorneys: Emanuel was alleged extortion victim
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was the congressman targeted by an alleged extortion plan described in the indictment against former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to attorneys familiar with the case.
2) At the time, Emanuel was the congressman from the 5th District on Chicago's North Side. The attorneys spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday because the congressman isn't named in the indictment and the information is secret grand jury material.
3) The indictment says the congressman sought a $2 million grant for a school. But Blagojevich allegedly told a lobbyist to tell the lawmaker his brother would have to raise campaign funds or the grant wouldn't go through.
4) The White House declined to comment on the indictment.
2009-05-22
Obama ' s brash chief of staff reflective with grads
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1) Hard-charging White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel paused for a reflective address at his alma mater Friday, describing the humiliation of being demoted by then-President Bill Clinton and the brutal illness he survived as a teenager.
2) Emanuel told 450 graduates of Sarah Lawrence College that his most important life lessons have come from "a lot of pain, some anguish, and some soul-searching."
3) Known for sharp elbows and brash words, Emanuel grew emotional, choking back tears as he recalled lying near death in a hospital bed as a teenager, fighting off a blood infection from a cut finger that later had to be partly amputated.
4) "Nearly losing my life made me want to save my life and made me want to live my life," Emanuel said, advising students, "Don't be reckless with what's been given to you."
5) He also recalled being demoted and nearly losing his role as a top aide to Clinton in 1993. "I probably shot off my mouth a few too many times and I probably picked one too many fights," Emanuel said.
6) He poked fun at the aggressive reputation that has earned him the tag "Rhambo," after the flame-throwing movie character played by Sylvester Stallone.
7) "As chief of staff, I am humbled -- a quality that does not come naturally -- by the incredible array of problems that President Obama confronts on a daily basis," he said.
8) Emanuel, 49, graduated from Sarah Lawrence in 1981. A ballet student, he attended the college in part for its strong dance program.
2009-08-31
Ousted US governor explains himself in new book
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1) Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich claims in a new book that White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel wanted his help in arranging to leave the Obama administration after two years and reclaim his seat in Congress.
2) Blagojevich writes in his soon-to-be-released book, "The Governor," that Emanuel spoke with him about whether it was possible to appoint a "placeholder" to the seat so he could eventually get it back and continue his efforts to become speaker some day.
3) Blagojevich also says he wanted something in exchange for appointing President Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate.
4) The Chicago Democrat says he'd launched a plan to appoint Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the Senate seat because he hoped to cut a deal on some pet projects with her father, the Illinois House speaker.
2009-10-18
White House official says Afghan government is key
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff says the central issue that must be settled before the president makes a decision about troop levels in Afghanistan is whether there is a credible government in Kabul.
2) Rahm Emanuel says the White House plans to have additional strategy sessions on Afghanistan this week and next week. He's not giving a firm timetable for a presidential decision on how to adjust the U.S. approach to the war in Afghanistan, including whether to send additional U.S. troops.
3) Emanuel says the troop question is important. But he says the biggest issue is whether the Afghans have a legitimate and credible government that can work with the United States and other countries seeking to stabilize that country.
4) Emanuel spoke on CNN's "State of the Union."
2010-03-21
Clinton pokes fun at Dems, Republicans and himself
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1) Former President Bill Clinton poked fun at Republicans, Democrats, his own health and his audience of reporters Saturday night, telling the Gridiron Club's annual dinner he was there because "I really didn't have anything much better to do tonight."
2) Clinton, who stood in for President Barack Obama, said Democrats are going to pass health care.
3) "It may not happen in my lifetime, or Dick Cheney's, but hopefully by Easter," he said referring to his and the former to vice president's heart ailments.
4) Obama, who's preparing for Sunday's probable House vote on health care reform, spoke to the dinner via videotape, saying that when he called Clinton to stand in for him, the former president said, "Let me clear my schedule for the next three years."
5) The dinner marked the 125th annual gathering of the Gridiron Club, whose members include Washington based reporters.
6) In another reference to his health, Clinton said his favorite cocktail now was "Lipitor on the rocks," referring to the widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering medicine.
7) He said that when Obama appeared recently on Fox News the president was "keeping his word about meeting with hostile leaders without preconditions."
8) In a poke at Obama's combative chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, the former president said, "I found Rahm. I created him. I made him what he is today. I am so sorry."
9) In the 1990s, Emanuel worked in Clinton's White House.
2010-04-11
Ahead of nuclear talks, Obama sees foreign leaders
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1) President Barack Obama has begun a series of meetings with foreign leaders who have come to Washington for his nuclear security conference.
2) The first to arrive for talks at Blair House across from the White House was India's prime minister, Manmohan Singh. Obama walked across Pennsylvania Avenue with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
3) After that, it was time for Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
4) At the conference Monday and Tuesday, representatives of 47 countries will try to come up with an agreement on how to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorists' hands.
2010-05-24
WH chief of staff in Israel for son ' s bar mitzvah
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff is in Israel to celebrate his son's bar mitzvah but some Israelis are displeased at the visit.
2) Rahm Emanuel is facing antipathy from ultranationalists who believe he's behind a U.S. demand to halt West Bank settlement construction.
3) Pro-settler activist Itamar Ben Gvir says he and his peers will protest Emanuel's visit.
4) Media on Monday flocked to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in expectation of 13-year-old Zach Emanuel's coming of age ceremony.
5) But after the Emanuels were not seen at the Wall, there was speculation the family might have chosen a less public venue because of the possible protests.
6) The older Emanuel is expected to meet with top Israeli officials despite the visit's private nature.
2010-05-25
Obama aide in Israel to meet with Israeli leaders
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1) White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is meeting with top Israeli leaders this week.
2) The White House says Emanuel will meet Wednesday in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for informal talks about a range of issues concerning the two countries. Emanuel and his family are scheduled to visit Thursday with President Shimon Peres.
3) Emanuel is in Israel to celebrate his son Zach's bar mitzvah.
2010-05-26
Israeli prime minister to visit White House
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff has invited the Israeli prime minister to the White House next week.
2) Israeli officials say the meeting will take place on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wraps up a previously scheduled visit to Canada.
3) White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel extended the invitation during a meeting with the Israeli leader in Jerusalem on Wednesday. Emanuel is in the country on a private visit.
4) Emanuel said the talks would focus on "shared security interests," a likely reference to the Iranian nuclear issue.
5) The two leaders are also likely to discuss Israel-Palestinian peace efforts. The sides recently launched U.S.-mediated indirect peace talks.
2010-06-02
2010-06-19
White House chief: Yacht trip another gaffe by BP
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff says BP chief executive Tony Hayward has committed yet another in a "long line of PR gaffes" but attending a yacht race in England while the Gulf oil spill disaster continues.
2) Hayward faced a fresh avalanche of criticism as news circulated Saturday that he was at a yacht competition around the Isle of Wight.
3) White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is mocking Hayward's infamous statement that he wishes the crisis were over so could have his life back.
4) Referring to the yachting, Emanuel tells ABC television's "This Week," "He's got his life back, as he would say."
5) Emanuel says the focus should stay on capping the leaking well and helping the people of the Gulf region.
2010-06-20
Emanuel links fall elections to Reps support of BP
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1) President Barack Obama's chief of staff is warning about what might happen if Republicans -- who have defended BP over the Gulf oil spill -- were to run Congress after the fall election.
2) Rahm Emanuel says the Republican philosophy is to paint BP as the victim. He says Obama will make clear to voters the fundamental differences in how each party would govern.
3) Emanuel tells ABC television's "This Week" it would be "dangerous" if the Republicans held power in Washington.
4) He says Republican lawmakers and candidates are attacking the administration for demanding that BP set up a $20 billion compensation fund.
5) Last week, Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP for what he called a White House "shakedown." The Texas Republican later stepped back from those remarks.
Aide: Obama wants to seize chance on Mideast peace
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1) President Barack Obama's latest White House meeting with Israel's prime minister is set for July 6 -- more than a month after their last one was scuttled at the last minute.
2) Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu had planned talks on June 1. But that fell apart after Israel's deadly raid May 31 on a flotilla hoping to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
3) The raid has strained U.S.-Israeli relations, and the White House has announced a $400 million aid package for Gaza and the West Bank.
4) Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, tells ABC television's "This Week" that Obama has been clear about the need "to seize this moment of opportunity" to make peace -- addressing Israeli security and Palestinians' hopes for their own state.
2010-06-24
2010-09-08
2010-09-09
Obama: Emanuel would be ' terrific ' Chicago mayor
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1) President Barack Obama says his chief of staff would make a "terrific mayor" of Chicago. But Obama says he expects Rahm Emanuel to hold off on deciding whether to enter the race until after the midterm elections.
2) Emanuel has long expressed interest in running for Chicago mayor one day. The job came open when longtime Mayor Richard M. Daley announced his retirement this week.
3) In an interview, Obama told ABC that his chief of staff has got a lot to do, and when Emanuel has a job to do, "he focuses on the job in front of him."
4) Emanuel represented Chicago in Congress before going to work for Obama.
5) The interview was taped Wednesday for broadcast Thursday.
2010-09-28
Emanuel faces hurdles if coming home to Chicago
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1) Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff to President Barack Obama, is widely expected to announce a decision about his candidacy within days and recently called the tenants renting his home on Chicago's North Side and asked them to move out so he could move back in, a spokesman and close friend said Tuesday.
2) But the couple said no. They extended their lease until next year just days before Mayor Richard Daley announced he wouldn't seek re-election, spokesman Rick Jasculca said, and told Emanuel they don't want to leave.
3) The unsuccessful pitch is a concrete on-the-ground signal Emanuel is leaning toward leaving the Obama administration for a mayoral run, and points to a key hurdle he'll face if he does. The one-time congressman needs to convince Chicago voters he's not just a Washington big shot with a reputation for ruthless politics, but still one of them.
4) "There is nothing in his history to show he wanted to be mayor or that this was his dream job. If there were ... he would have been involved in local activities, organizations, spoken out about violence," said political consultant Delmarie Cobb, who was press secretary for the Democratic National Convention in 1996 and the Rev. Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential bid.
5) While Emanuel has been at the center of major national issues, that's not what brings voters out for local races, said Chicago-based national pollster Michael McKeon.
6) "Rahm negotiated with Israel but if the other guy is the one who got your alley paved, what do you think is more important?" McKeon said.
7) Emanuel could announce whether he's running as soon as Friday, a person familiar with his thinking said this week. But prospective opponents already are hinting at plans to exploit his reputation as an outsider more comfortable in Congress than City Hall, an abrasive take-no-holds political operative who once sent a dead fish to a pollster and peppers his sentences with profanities to make a point.
8) It's a reputation that has been celebrated in Washington, famously so in 2005 when at a roast of Emanuel, Obama joked that an accident in which Emanuel lost part of his middle finger "rendered him practically mute." But it could draw derision at home.
9) The stories of Emanuel's hard charging tactics, particularly after he led the national Democrats' campaign to win back a majority in the U.S. House in 2006, have distorted his image, Jasculca said.
10) "Sometimes a folklore emerges about people that sort of takes on a life of its own," he said. "I've known Rahm for pretty close to a quarter century and this is a solid Chicago family guy who is as Chicago as the Chicago Bears are."
11) Nobody argues Emanuel would not be a formidable candidate give his experience, name recognition and fundraising capabilities, but he has no ready-made army of volunteers ready to hit Chicago streets on his behalf.
12) "He's never had a personal organization," said political analyst Don Rose, who noted Emanuel's election to Congress in 2002 he aided by political organizations loyal to Daley. In effect, Emanuel borrowed them, Rose said.
13) "Most of those don't really owe him any loyalty," he said. In fact, "He knows many of these people but they don't necessarily like him," Rose added.
14) It's those people Emanuel has to reach out to, and fast, if he really wants to get in the mayoral race.
15) "He has to meet with the core of people who don't like him and charm them and let them go out and spread the word that he's not that bad, he's very considerate (he's) got Chicago in his heart," said June Rosner, a public relations consultant long involved with Chicago politics.
16) And when confronted with Emanuel's hard-nosed reputation, Rosner said those supporters need to respond: "'Listen, we want a tough mayor.'"
2010-09-30
2010-10-01
Sources: Key adviser Emanuel leaving White House
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1) President Barack Obama is expected to announce Friday that Rahm Emanuel, the relentless enforcer of his agenda as White House chief of staff, will resign to run for mayor of Chicago.
2) The departure of one of Obama's advisers will be an unquestioned loss for the president. Obama has counted on Emanuel's intensity, discipline and congressional relationships to keep the White House focused and aggressive.
3) But as the president prepared for what his spokesman called a "personnel announcement" Friday, word circulated that he likely would tap another top staffer as Emanuel's interim replacement -- Pete Rouse.
4) Rouse, 64, was Obama's chief of staff when he served in the U.S. Senate.
5) And while Rouse doesn't have Emanuel's larger-than-life personality -- or taste for colorful invective and aggressive political combat -- he's seen as a highly knowledgeable insider who quietly gets things done.
6) Unlike Emanuel, Rouse rarely talks to the media.
7) Emanuel's plans have been the source of widespread speculation ever since Chicago's Mayor Richard Daley announced last month he would not seek re-election. In an April television interview, the 50-year-old Emanuel had called it "no secret" he'd like to run for mayor of the country's third-largest city.
8) Other top officials also have announced their departures in recent weeks, including budget director Peter R. Orszag, who left in late July, and economist Lawrence Summers, who will leave his post as director of the National Economic Council at the end of the year.
9) Such turnover isn't unusual two years into a presidential term, but it comes as Obama's Democratic Party is facing serious challenges in the November congressional elections. Widespread losses by the party in the House and Senate could force Obama to make more changes in his staff.
10) Emanuel's plan to resign was disclosed by two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they did not want to pre-empt the formal announcement.
11) Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday in Washington that the president will make a personnel announcement Friday.
12) Gibbs said that the president has "complete loyalty and trust" in Rouse -- but he wouldn't confirm that Rouse had been tapped for the interim appointment.
13) The president is likely to choose a permanent chief of staff after the Nov. 2 congressional elections.
14) Rouse has gained the respect and trust of key lawmakers over three decades; he sometimes was referred to as the 101st senator in the 100-seat chamber during his years serving as chief of staff to former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.
15) Now, although Rouse is one of the least-visible members of Obama's senior staff, he's seen as a steady hand who can guide the White House through an unsettled period with difficult congressional elections looming and other staff changes on the horizon.
16) "Pete has been with senator-elect, senator, president-elect and now President Obama. There is a complete loyalty and trust with somebody like Pete," Gibbs said.
17) Rouse, who is unmarried, was raised on the East Coast, graduated from Colby College and later got degrees from the London School of Economics and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He's known for his fondness for cats.
Obama announces Emanuel ' s exit as chief of staff
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1) President Barack Obama has formally announced the departure of his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, praising him as "extraordinarily well-qualified" for his new challenge -- a run for mayor of Chicago.
2) Emanuel's replacement, at least for the interim, is Obama senior adviser Pete Rouse, who also stood at Obama's side for the high-profile send-off Friday at the White House.
3) The departure of one of Obama's key advisers will be an unquestioned loss for the president. He relied on Emanuel's intensity, discipline and congressional relationships to keep the White House focused and aggressive.
4) Obama called it a "bittersweet moment," adding that "we could not have accomplished what we accomplished without Rahm's leadership."
2010-10-02
2010-10-03
Emanuel: He ' s preparing to run for Chicago mayor
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1) Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel announced Sunday that he's preparing to run for mayor of Chicago, a position it was widely known he has long desired.
2) Emanuel made the announcement in a video posted Sunday on his website, ChicagoforRahm.com. He had been careful not to launch his candidacy from Washington and headed to Chicago immediately after President Barack Obama announced his aide's resignation Friday.
3) In the video, Emanuel said he's launching a listening tour of Chicago's neighborhoods and will visit transit stops, grocery stores and hot dog stands.
4) One of the challenges facing him in a mayoral run is reconnecting with Chicago voters after his time in Washington.
5) Emanuel highlighted his ties to Chicago in the two-minute video, noting his three terms representing a North Side district in Congress.
6) Mayor Richard Daley announced last month he will not seek a seventh term.
2010-10-04
Emanuel hits Chicago streets, makes case for mayor
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1) Last week, Afghanistan. This week, parents protesting the proposed demolition of a park field house.
2) Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel hit the campaign trail on Monday and got a sudden taste of the vastly different agenda he'd face as Chicago's mayor -- and the hurdles he must overcome to be elected.
3) A day after unveiling his campaign on a new Website, Emanuel hit the streets, vowing to "hear from Chicagoans -- in blunt and honest terms" what they want from their next mayor. Many were happy just to shake hands, exchange hugs, or drink coffee with President Barack Obama's hard-charging former right hand man.
4) But he also faced skepticism about his intentions, loyalties and whether he even has the legal right to run to lead a city he hasn't lived in for nearly two years. A few of his potential rivals also surfaced in public, though they insisted it had nothing to do with him.
5) The blunt talk during one part of Emanuel's visit to a bustling street in the mostly Hispanic Pilsen neighborhood was that he wasn't listening enough.
6) There, a group of parents protesting the planned demolition of a park field house briefly surrounded Emanuel's car. They said he'd promised to talk with them on the sidewalk, but instead, after entering a restaurant to shake hands with patrons, he quickly headed to his car without stopping.
7) Michelle Palencia, whose 6-year-old son attends a school that uses the field house as a library, said the group confronted Emanuel because no one else is listening.
8) "He said, 'I promise,'" Palencia said. "That's all we've been hearing is promises."
9) Palencia said Emanuel did say he would call her -- and she will be waiting.
10) Skeptics and well-wishers alike greeted Emanuel as he campaigned at a downtown train station, a South Side restaurant and along Pilsen's busy 18th Street.
11) Outside Izola's restaurant, a bastion for Chicago's black leaders and a favorite of the city's first black mayor, Harold Washington, a fair number of curiosity seekers said they'd never even heard of Emanuel.
12) Inside, treated to a $13 breakfast with Emanuel, a trio of local men told him their concerns -- unemployment, education, crime.
13) "He's going to have to convince us he's going to make a difference," said diner Paul Bryson, 46, a bathroom remodeler.
14) Paul Johnson, a construction worker who used Emanuel's visit to the restaurant to protest jobs going to illegal immigrants, said it was no accident that there were no black community leaders in sight.
15) "They're sending a message by not being here," said Johnson, 49, who is black.
16) Emanuel told the man, "We've got to develop the community, invest in the community."
17) One thing Emanuel may have in his favor as he looks for votes among South Side black voters is his connection to Obama, who once worked as a community activist in the area and remains immensely popular there.
18) "A segment of the population will just support Rahm based on Rahm's affiliation with Barack Obama," said local minister Ira Acree.
19) But added Acree, who is not an Emanuel supporter, "Our job is to educate (voters) that Rahm is not the second coming of Barack Obama, that what they're thinking is based on irrational logic."
20) With a small army of television news crews in tow, Emanuel leaned in close to make eye-to-eye small talk with many who greeted him, as if trying to shake off the Washington insider mantle and remind voters he's a local boy.
21) Maria Martinez, 21, who hugged Emanuel at the train station on her way to her sales job downtown, said she will vote for him and dismissed the Washington talk.
22) "I still say he's from Chicago," she said. "He's here, isn't he?"
23) Frederick Childress, a 58-year-old retired Chicago Housing Authority employee who also plans to vote for Emanuel, said, "He was a good White House chief of staff. He's for the people."
24) While most messages on Emanuel's new campaign Facebook page were positive, there were also some from people who were skeptical or downright hostile.
25) Some were critical of his role in the Obama administration. Others wondered if he was more concerned about landing himself a job than he was for the city. And some suggested that after being away from Chicago for so long, he was ineligible to run for mayor -- an argument that one city elections official said is likely without merit.
26) Emanuel joins a crowded field of Democrats who have announced or hinted that they're running. Among them are Chicago School Board president and close Daley ally Gery Chico, Chicago City Clerk Miguel del Valle, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and state Sen. James Meeks, who's also the pastor of a South Side church.
27) Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, also considering a mayoral run, visited one of the same South Side eateries as Emanuel on Monday and also was filmed talking with voters, but a spokeswoman said the overlap was a coincidence.
28) Braun had been planning her own listening tour of the city's South Side for weeks to solidify her base, a spokeswoman said, and has been quietly building support among business and community leaders since mid-September.
29) One other potential rival didn't sound overly worried about Emanuel.
30) Speaking at the Cook County Jail to official launch of a new laundry operation staffed by jailed military veterans, Dart told reporters on Monday that he was presently focused on his own family and his current job serving Chicago -- not Emanuel.
31) "My time is spent on my family and my job," he said. "What he does or what he doesn't do, what his strong points, weak points are -- are really not going to be the thing that determines what I do at all."
2010-10-08
Obama: Jones departing as security adviser
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1) President Barack Obama is announcing the resignation of retired Gen. James Jones as his national security adviser, the second high-level staff change at the White House in as many weeks.
2) Obama says deputy national security adviser Tom Donilon will take over.
3) Speaking in the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he has relied every day on Jones' advice and counsel.
4) Last Friday, also in the Rose Garden, Obama announced the departure of his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
2010-11-11
Emanuel to formally announce run for Chicago mayor
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1) A campaign aide says former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel plans to formally announce his plans to run for Chicago mayor later this week.
2) The aide confirmed the plans to The Associated Press Wednesday evening, speaking on condition of anonymity because he didn't want to pre-empt Emanuel's announcement planned for Saturday at a North Side school.
3) Emanuel resigned from the White House last month and has been gathering signatures, raising funds and campaigning throughout Chicago.
4) Mayor Richard Daley announced in September that he won't seek a seventh term.
2010-11-13
Emanuel formally announces run for Chicago mayor
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1) Rahm Emanuel officially announced Saturday what everyone has known since he quit his job as White House chief of staff, hugged President Barack Obama and returned to Chicago: He's running for mayor.
2) To the surprise of no one, Emanuel, who has long talked about his desire to be mayor, told a packed auditorium at a school on Chicago's North Side that he is a candidate to succeed retiring Mayor Richard Daley. The election is Feb. 22.
3) Emanuel represented the city's North Side in Congress before he went to the White House. He has been actively campaigning in the city since his return about two months ago. He also has been courting donors who can add to the $1.2 million left from his congressional campaign fund.
4) Emanuel is one of about a half dozen candidates who have either formally announced or are about to.
5) State Sen. James Meeks and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis have similar events scheduled Sunday, and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun is expected to announce in the next week or so. Former city schools President Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle have already declared they're running.
6) But Emanuel has emerged as the front-runner, in part because of his money and national profile and because other high-profile candidates, such as Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, have dropped out.
2010-12-14
2010-12-15
Chicago residents quiz Emanuel over eligibility
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1) Rahm Emanuel, who left a powerful job with President Barack Obama at the White House to move back to Chicago and run for mayor, endured hours of questioning on Tuesday over his residency -- all intent on keeping his name off the ballot.
2) Testifying before a Chicago election board official during a hearing that was sometimes funny, contentious and downright strange, Emanuel defended himself against claims by opponents who say he is not eligible to run for mayor in February's election because he moved out of the city to take a job as Obama's White House chief of staff.
3) Speaking in a quiet voice, his hands clasped before him and a photograph of his family in front of him, the former White House chief of staff looked and sounded nothing like a politician widely known for his tough, take-no-prisoners and often profane style.
4) He appeared relaxed and smiled easily, once joking as his income tax returns were shown on the screen in the room that, "It does call for tax reform, I'll tell you that."
5) And he laughed when one of his questioners, a community activist dressed in a T-shirt, signaled that he was out of questions when he joked, "Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?"
6) "I enjoyed that," Emanuel said.
7) But Emanuel also addressed the issue of his leaving Chicago with what his attorneys and supporters believe is powerful evidence that he fully intended to return to the Windy City.
8) He listed the family's "most valuable possessions" that he left in his house after he and his family moved to Washington, D.C., in 2009, including his wife's wedding dress, clothes his children wore home from the hospital just after they were born, photographs, his children's report cards and their drawings.
9) He made special note of leaving behind a coat that his grandfather gave his father a half century ago.
10) "It's the only possession I still have from my grandfather," he said.
11) And he repeatedly came back to a theme he has been sounding throughout his campaign to succeed the retiring Mayor Richard Daley: He only left his job as a Chicago congressman and moved his family to Washington to work for the president.
12) "The only reason I no longer put my head down in that house is the president of the United States at a time of crisis asked me to serve as chief of staff," he said.
13) Emanuel, who knows that if his name is allowed on the ballot he will have to battle opponents' argument that he is not really a Chicagoan like them, tried throughout the hearing to draw a distinction between his life in the two cities. He repeatedly used phrases like "back home to Chicago," and when he talked about his residence in Washington, it was always a "rental property."
14) But opponents of Emanuel's candidacy who claim he forfeited his residency when he moved and rented out his house on the city's North Side, argue that none of that matters. They say that the law is clear: To run for mayor, a person has to be a resident of the city for a year prior to election day and Emanuel, who moved back to Chicago in October simply does not qualify.
15) During the hearing, they peppered Emanuel with questions about his income tax returns, driver's license, voting record and car registration that were designed to suggest he was no longer a resident of Chicago.
16) But Emanuel, as he said throughout his campaign, told the attorneys about how he registered to vote from Chicago and voted absentee, did not sell his house and continued to pay Illinois taxes.
17) He also responded to opponents' contention that by renting his house he was no longer a resident of the city, explaining that he and his wife did so on the recommendation of real estate professionals "for the safety and security of the house."
2010-12-17
2010-12-22
Chicago panel ready to decide if Emanuel on ballot
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1) The Chicago panel that will decide whether former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's name is allowed on the February ballot for mayor is still awaiting a recommendation from its hearing officer.
2) The non-binding recommendation was expected Wednesday but hadn't been made by late afternoon.
3) A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman says the panel still plans to make a decision Thursday -- with or without the recommendation from the officer who heard testimony about residency challenges to Emanuel's candidacy.
4) Opponents say Emanuel doesn't have a legal right to run because he lived in Washington for nearly two years while working for President Barack Obama.
5) Emanuel contends he didn't forfeit his residency because he still owns a home in Chicago, pays property taxes and votes there.
2010-12-23
Hearing officer: Emanuel can run for Chicago mayor
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1) Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel cleared an important hurdle in his bid to be Chicago mayor early Thursday when a hearing officer recommended his name appear on the February ballot.
2) The decision was made even though Emanuel spent much of the last two years living in Washington working for President Barack Obama.
3) The ruling, which still needs final approval from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, is a political win for Emanuel because it could help him silence critics who have persistently argued he isn't a Chicago resident. The board is scheduled to meet later Thursday and will likely make a decision.
4) "While the decision rests with the commissioners, I am encouraged by this recommendation . Chicago voters should ultimately have the right to decide the election -- and to vote for me or against me," Emanuel said in a statement Thursday.
5) Election board hearing officer Joseph Morris said evidence suggests that Emanuel had no intention of terminating his residency in Chicago, left the city only to work for Obama and often told friends he intended to live in Washington for no more than two years.
6) "Illinois law expressly protects the residential status and electoral rights of Illinois residents who are called to serve the national government," Morris, a Republican attorney in private practice in Chicago, wrote in his 35-page ruling.
7) Officials have tried to expedite mayoral ballot challenges before the Feb. 22 vote, but the board's decision is almost sure to be challenged in the courts.
8) "The hearing officer is sort of like an Italian traffic signal -- it's a mere suggestion. He is basically giving his opinion," Paul Green, a political scientist at Roosevelt University in Chicago, said before the ruling was issued.
9) More than two dozen people challenged Emanuel's candidacy, contending he didn't meet a one-year residency requirement. Emanuel quit his job as Obama's top aide and moved back to Chicago in October after Mayor Richard M. Daley announced he wouldn't seek a seventh term.
10) Emanuel is part of a crowded field of more than a dozen candidates, including former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, former school board president Gery Chico, City Clerk Miguel del Valle and state Sen. James Meeks, the pastor of a South Side mega church.
2010-12-26