(USA Today) The White House is experiencing a shake-up. President Obama recently said good-bye to two key leaders of his economic team who were budget chief Peter Orszag and economist Christina Romer. A third economist, Lawrence Summers, is leaving to return to Harvard University at the end of the year. There are future departures taking place. Senior adviser David Axelrod says he will leave in 2011 to return to Chicago to work on the president's re-election campaign. Yesterday, another member of Obama's staff announced he was leaving--Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Adviser Pete Rouse will be Emanuel's interim successor, according to two administration officials.
In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley has announced he will not seek a seventh term, which will clear the way for several candidates to line up to run for that seat. Emanuel's leaving the White House to run for mayor of Chicago, which has been speculated in the news since Richard Daley announced he wasn't running for a seventh term. Emanuel has until November 22 to submit petitions for the non-partisan primary on February 22. A Chicago Sun-Times poll taken days after Daley's announcement last month placed Emanuel at the back of a pack of five possible candidates with 7% support. More than one-third are undecided. Former Reagan White House chief of staff Kenneth Duberstein says Emanuel stands a good chance of rising to the top.
I believe that Emanuel will be very competitive in next year's mayoral race in Chicago. He fits the Chicago style of politics very well. He's had plenty experience working as Obama's chief of staff. Emanuel represented Illinois as Congressman. I thought he was very corrupt in his dealings. Therefore, he would be a perfect candidate to run Chicago's political machine. He's had plenty of experience twisting arms and making deals to help pass the recent healthcare bill in Congress, for example. If he's elected as mayor next November, I predict he'll continue Chicago's tradition of "dirty politics."
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