Rahm Emanuel Wants To Be Speaker

Politico:

Before he was mentioned as a possible Senate successor to Barack Obama, before he helped lead the Democrats back to power in the House, before he was even elected to his first term as the congressman from the North Side of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel was telling friends that he had one goal in life: to become the first Jewish speaker of the House.

But the No. 4 man in the House Democratic leadership has become a victim of his own success. As chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Emanuel helped lead the Democrats back to the majority in 2006. That victory put the speaker's gavel in the hands of Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and she's not likely to give it up any time soon.

Emanuel -- who is both ambitious and impatient -- may not be able to wait. In early June, conservative columnist Robert Novak wrote that Pelosi was "reported to be privately talking" about Emanuel as a possible successor for Barack Obama if Illinois' junior senator is elected president.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[david87501]

02:12 PM on 07/17/2008

The picture of Rahm Emanuel whispering in Nancy Pelosi's ear explains a lot. Now we know why impeachment if off the table.

[marinade]

09:44 AM on 07/17/2008

Way to support the leader, Rahm. Not into Dem unity, are you?

[nogimmicks]

10:01 PM on 07/16/2008

At this point the Party is half paralyzed. Rahm is a pro-war hawk.
Howard Dean, however, remains to be the main hope.
There are a few decent people still not squeezed out of the Party that can be considered for the replacement: Jim Webb, Daniel Akaka, Richard Durbin, Ed Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Chris Dodd. I do not know .. With Ed's condition the pool of good people gets thinner and thinner.

[arbroath]

09:29 PM on 07/16/2008

Keep this guy in Congress, he'll do less damage there than on K street, his much more lucrative plan B.
This person helped to destroy the Howard Dean campaign for president. He has no clue relating to the ideals this country was founded on.

[ErnestineBass]

10:16 PM on 07/16/2008

I agree with you, arbroath...except for that part about keeping Rahm in Congress.

Aside from that...can we talk about BURNING the K STREET establishment TO THE GROUND?

[GF646]

08:36 AM on 07/17/2008

Rehm Emanuel spent time working on Wall Street before he went to Congress. This is the problem with the Democratic Party. It has been bought by Wall Street. Both Emanuel and Robert Rubin should go back to Wall Street where they belong. Anybody know how much Wall Street has contributed to the Obama campaign? I hear that it is a lot.

[SCG]

09:16 PM on 07/16/2008

Rahm Emanuel as leader would be bad news for progressives. Might as well have the Chamber of Commerce directly running congress.

No DLC, thanks.

[syllepsis]

10:34 PM on 07/16/2008

Ditch the Democrats. Vote Obama, then support your local third party. Rahm, for better or worse, is a typical Democrat. In fact, in a sense, he's better than the typical rotten Dem, because he wears his triangulating BS on his sleeve.

[totaldisbelief]

08:54 PM on 07/16/2008

And just where does his first Allegiance lay???
Go check out his background.

[wolf58]

08:41 PM on 07/16/2008

She has shown she lacks the ability to be leader of anything. She will allow crimes against this country committed by the traitor Bush to go un-answered. I don't care what her party is, this is total crap she should step down

[leftLibertarian]

07:57 PM on 07/16/2008

If he does not support impeaching the criminals Bush and Cheney, he should not be considered.

[research]

08:20 PM on 07/16/2008

Rahm Emanuel Personally squashes any attempts at impeachment, he hates the idea.

[geobushono]

07:26 PM on 07/16/2008

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!
Our Party better start to recognize Israel is not our friend.

[Kassandra]

07:23 PM on 07/16/2008

Just what we need, a complete blue dog as speaker. Mr Emmanuel, the honorable dude who, in his "secret trade deal" helped Bush push through 4 more "free trade" deals before Bush's fast track authority ran out last year.

What a guy!

[falco]

07:17 PM on 07/16/2008

"Rahm Emanuel's father Benjamin was a member of the Irgun, a Zionist terrorist group that operated in Palestine from 1931 to 1948. The Irgun blew up buildings and killed hundreds of innocent people in order to achieve the goals of militant Zionism in occupied Palestine."

Of course he is in the White House, where else would he be able to carry on his father's legacy?

[Big0725]

08:56 PM on 07/16/2008

Only an a$$hole would visit the sins of the father on the child. May you develop a festering carbuncle on your nether regions.

[RTIII]

06:11 PM on 07/16/2008

HEY EVERYBODY!

House seats are ONLY good for two years. That means there's a re-election of ALL members of the house EVERY two years. This means that BOTH of them, Pelosi and Rahm are up for re-election.

THIS MEANS we can vote BOTH of them out this November, along with all the other house DLC members - and whatever other of the 135 traitors we need to remove...

I don't know who Rahm's competition is, but Nancy has a GREAT competitor who truly is progressive who can replace her. She's Cindy Sheehan. She's officially independent but that's mostly because Nancy's political machine is formidable and easily manipulated the primary. So, now it's up to Nancy. (We won't bring in any R here, nomatter what, but Cindy has a great chance.)

So... Help fund Cindy, please, so we can GUARANTEE we'll get a new speaker!

If we also help support whoever's acceptable in Rahm's race, maybe we can help ensure he goes home, too...
.

[abouttime]

06:43 PM on 07/16/2008

Cindy Sheehan is not a politician!
II think she would take impeachment seriously.
Cindy is a Great choice .
I think she would make a great representative who understands the Constitution and her obligation to impeach a president with obvious crimminal acts of the worst kind imaginable. Sending our troops to kill and die in a sick deadly war based on a lie.
Impeach Bush, et al

[Danny]

10:14 PM on 07/16/2008

Hear, hear!

[semorg]

05:50 PM on 07/16/2008

Can someone with an Israeli passport can become speaker of the house?

[RedWhiteandBrooklyn]

07:00 PM on 07/16/2008

Why not just come out and show your hatred? Say "Jew"... just like Jesus and his apostles were. "Jews".

[totaldisbelief]

08:55 PM on 07/16/2008

Ahh the old "anti-semitic" crapola again.
Can't we just say Zionist without you blowing a fuse?

[Danny]

10:12 PM on 07/16/2008

Shudder, shudder.

[robeson]

05:32 PM on 07/16/2008

McCain Defends A Non-Existent Country -- With Non-Existent Weapons

[holeybuybull]

05:21 PM on 07/16/2008

Maybe Rahm could run for speaker of the Knesset. He wouldn't achieve his ambition to be the first jewish speaker of that house, but maybe the first american-jewish speaker. This may impose a hardship on AIPAC - they'd have to pay the postage to send him their contributions.

[RedWhiteandBrooklyn]

07:10 PM on 07/16/2008

Wow! After the outstanding job Rham did getting Democrats elected, look at how the trolls are coming out from the woodwork, using the Jewish references: "Knesset", "Israeli Passport". Really classy, as usual, using a man's religion as some kind of a smear. Real prooud bunch of "Christians", aren't you?

Yeah... during the 1991 War of Arab Agression Rahm worked as a civilian volunteer with the Israeli Army, making him, as someone who does not run away from war, completely unqualified to be a republican chickenhawk. Put Rahm Emanuel and your chickens__t AWOL George W. in the same room, and Bush would be reduced to a sniveling pile of dog crap.