Could White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel soon become MAYOR Emanuel?
In an interview this week on Charlie Rose’s PBS talk show, Emanuel admitted he is contemplating a run for Chicago mayor. “I hope Mayor Daley seeks reelection. I will work and support him if he seeks reelection,” Emanuel said. “But if Mayor Daley doesn’t, one day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago…That’s always been an aspiration of mine even when I was in the House of Representatives.”
Emanuel originally wanted to be the first Jewish Speaker of the House and was actually in line for the position while a member of the House of Representatives. But he gave up those ambitions when President Obama asked him to join the White House as Chief of Staff. Rumors that Emanuel wanted to run for Chicago Mayor have been making the rounds for months, with reports that he often and openly communicates his desire to people, including his friend and incumbent mayor Richard Daley.
Emanuel told Rose that he misses the regular contact he had with constituents as a representative of Illinois’ 5th District: “You learned a lot,” Emanuel said in the interview.
