[THS] Rahm Emanuel expected to quit White House

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

For decades, Rahm Emanuel has conducted a purge of progressive candidates in
Democratic primaries in a deliberate effort to shift the center of political gravity to the
right.  In an interview this morning on ABC, Emanuel stated that Prime Minister
Netanyahu is willing to sign a peace settlement with the Palestinians.  In recent
months, Rahm Emanuel has been demonized in the Israeli press as the biggest
enemy of the current government of Israel in the Obama White House.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/7837686/Rahm-Emanuel-
expected-to-quit-White-House.html




Rahm Emanuel expected to quit White House


Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, is expected to leave his job later this
year after growing tired of the "idealism" of Barack Obama's inner circle.


By Alex Spillius in Washington
Published: 10:00PM BST 20 Jun 2010

Washington insiders say he will quit within six to eight months in frustration at their
unwillingness to "bang heads together" to get policy pushed through.

Mr Emanuel, 50, enjoys a good working relationship with Mr Obama but they are
understood to have reached an understanding that differences over style mean he
will serve only half the full four-year term.

Friends say he is also worried about burnout and losing touch with his young family
due to the pressure of one of most high profile jobs in US politics.

"I would bet he will go after the midterms," said a leading Democratic consultant in
Washington. "Nobody thinks it's working but they can't get rid of him – that would
look awful. He needs the right sort of job to go to but the consensus is he'll go."

An official from the Bill Clinton era said that "no one will be surprised" if Mr Emanuel
left after the midterm elections in November, when the Democratic party will battle to
save its majorities in the house of representatives and the senate.

It is well known in Washington that arguments have developed between pragmatic
Mr Emanuel, a veteran in Congress where he was known for driving through
compromises, and the idealistic inner circle who followed Mr Obama to the White
House.

His abrasive style has rubbed some people the wrong way, while there has been
frustration among Mr Obama's closest advisers that he failed to deliver a smooth ride
for the president's legislative that his background promised.

"It might not be his fault, but the perception is there," said the consultant, who
asked not to be named. "Every vote has been tough, from health care to energy to
financial reform.

"Democrats have not stood behind the president in the way Republicans did for
George W Bush, and that was meant to be Rahm's job."

There were sharp differences over health care reform, with Mr Emanuel arguing that
public hostility about cost should have forced them into producing a scaled down
package. Mr Obama and advisers including David Axelrod, the chief strategist, and
Valerie Jarrett, a businesswoman and mentor from Chicago, decided to push through
with grander legislation anyway.

Mr Emanuel has reportedly told friends that his role as White House chief of staff was
"only an eighteen month job" because of its intensity.

Regarded as the most demanding after president, it involves controlling the
president's agenda, enforcing White House message discipline as well as liaising with
Congress.

His departure would regarded as another sign of how Mr Obama's presidency has
been far more troubled than expected.

Mr Emanuel has privately expressed a readiness to run for mayor of Chicago, which is
also his home town though he was never part of the Obama set and did not endorse
the then senator in the Democratic primary in 2008.

That would however depend on Mayor Richard Daley stepping down when he is up
for re-election in 2011.

The chief obstacle to taking the White House job originally was doubts about moving
his three children from Chicago. According to another former Clinton official, he has
let friends know that he is "very sensitive to the idea that he is not a good father for
having done this".

One of Washington's more colourful characters, Mr Emanuel is the son of Jewish
immigrants and was an accomplished ballet dancer at school. He served in the Israeli
Defence Force in the 1991 Gulf War.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment