Rahm Emanuel

“I would not be friends with someone who didn’t feel comfortable sending me offensive things,” wrote a Democratic political staffer, 23, who asked not to be named. In the next email he begged to strike that from the record because it sounded “abrasive,” even though he was being quoted anonymously: “I would be simply embarrassed to see that in there.” (He then insisted that his location within the city remain undisclosed; we will refer to him as the Staten Islander, because it’s remotely possible he is one.)

It’s a familiar dilemma to New York’s ambitious worthies: Perfect manners are suspect in private, but it’s embarrassing to be linked with jokes and ribaldry in public.  read more »

John Koblin looks at editors who moonlight as writers, and talks to The New Yorker's David Remnick who says, "As much as I love editing, reporting and writing is a way for me to get out of the house a little bit, metaphorically... Otherwise, it’s just the apartment and the office." Plus: As Economy Quakes, Home Mags Teeter.

Felix Gillette sifts through some recently released Rather v. CBS documents and unearths some interesting nuggets. Plus: Broke as A Peacock!

Leon Neyfakh reports on the Norman Mailer Estate's uneven relationships with Andrew Wylie and Random House. Plus: The Remaking of Ryan Lizza's Big Campaign Book 2008.

Plus: Rahm Poked Me!... Penny Arcade... Raging Belle.

Just about every story written about Rahm Emanuel since Barack Obama selected him to serve as White House chief of staff has described him as the tough Chicago operative who became the consummate Washington insider.

But how sensitive will the bulldog at Mr. Obama’s gate be to New York interests?

“We’re fortunate to have a president-elect who represents a big state, who lives in a big city, who understands the needs of cities like ours,” Hillary Clinton told The Observer during a conference call on Nov. 11. “I think we are going to have a strong ear in the White House.  read more »

>>Click here for Barack Obama’s Facebook Administration page

>>Click here to read Gillian Reagan on 'The Facebook Administration'

Barack Obama
President-elect
3,075,248 supporters
Fun facts: Favorite movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; favorite book, Parting the Waters; favorite TV show, Sportscenter.

Joe Biden
Vice-president-elect
175,776 supporters
Fun facts: On Aug. 28, Joe Biden added the Obama function.

Rahm Emanuel
Appointed White House chief of staff; Illinois rep.
2,984 supporters
Fun facts: Yoni Leviatan of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., wrote on his wall Nov. 7, “Michael Corleone is about to take over.”  read more »

Janet Napolitano
Democratic governor of Arizona, possible attorney general
2,493 supporters
Fun facts: She enjoys playing the guitar, is a Lyle Lovett fan and loves any movie with Sean Connery in it.

The basic logic behind Barack Obama’s first major decision as president-elect, his selection of Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff, makes sense.

Emanuel is a sharp and aggressive strategic thinker with an instinctive grasp of the finer points of backroom dealing and deep knowledge of who’s who and what’s what in the world of Washington. He can also be brutally frank and will have no reservations about providing candid assessments and challenging Obama’s thinking during any decision-making process. The idea, in short, is that Emanuel is a no-nonsense guy knows how to get things done in Washington – a pretty good combination for a chief of staff.  read more »

Barack Obama needs to convince voters that he understands them and leave the dirty work to his surrogates, says Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, who's also chairman of the DCCC.

Before Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in Denver last night, I asked Emanuel, a famously bulldoggish veteran of the Clinton White House, if the Democrats were being sufficiently aggressive in going after John McCain.

“The best line was Hillary’s line about the Twin Cities, you know, frick and frack [McCain and Bush] over there—you can’t tell them apart,” said Emanuel, who was surrounded by aides on the floor of Invesco Field.  read more »

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel are special guests at a fund-raiser at the Yale Club this afternoon for six Democratic congressional challengers, including two from New York: Dan Maffei and Eric Massa.  read more »

It’s been barely a week since her fellow House Democrats officially picked Nancy Pelosi as the  read more »

It’s been barely a week since her fellow House Democrats officially picked Nancy Pelosi as their c  read more »

Chuck Todd thinks John McCain will save the GOP.

Whose fault is it that the Democrats didn't win the state Senate?

Kos wants to know what readers think about the leadership job being done by Howard Dean, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Rahm Emanuel.

Greg Sargent doesn't like the prevailing Joe Lieberman narrative.

An anonymous blogger wants to keep track of Eliot Spitzer's Day One plans for changing Albany.

Wonkster explains why the city likes charter schools, but isn't thrilled about the Julia Richman Educational Complex.

The AP has more on our item about Emily Pataki and the bar exam, rightly noting that both John F. Kennedy Jr. and Dennis Vacco failed on their first attempts too.

Welcome to Rich Azzopardi, the Senate Democrats' new press person.

And pictured above is Newsday'sDan Janison with a bottle of ale.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

From last Friday's Roll Call (subscription required):

"Preparing for a potential Democratic victory on Election Day, House Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (S.C.) has begun rounding up support for a would-be bid for the Majority Whip's office."

The subtext to Clybrun's move is the question of what Rahm Emanuel, the architect of the House Democrats' campaign strategy, wants out of a Democratic takeover.

No one doubts that he'd like to move into a leadership post, but the politics of it are very tricky for him. Taking on Nancy Pelosi for Speaker would probably be suicidal, and a bid for Majority Leader against Steny Hoyer (the current Minority Whip) and John Murtha (who has announced his intention to run if the Democrats secure a majority) would be impractical.

But Majority Whip, the number three post on the majority side, could be a winnable race - and would position Emanuel very nicely for the future, since the 66-year-old Pelosi, 67-year-old Hoyer and 74-year-old Murtha are all on the back nine of their careers. Hence the pre-emptive maneuvering of Clyburn, who as Caucus Chairman is now the third-ranking House Democrat.

An Emanuel-Clyburn contest could get very ugly, very quickly, though. The 66-year-old Clyburn, a courtly South Carolinian, is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, a key 43-member component of the Democratic coalition whose leaders would almost assuredly demand - loudly - that Pelosi weigh in on Clyburn's behalf. And the would-be Speaker certainly doesn't want an intra-party bloodbath to serve as her new House majority's introduction to America.

-- Steve Kornacki

Bill Clinton, DCCC Chairman Rahm Emanuel, and DLC President Bruce Reed, authors of "The Plan: Big Ideas for America" stop by the Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Triangle at 7.

The four Democratic candidates in the 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn debate tonight on NY1. It airs tonight at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Assembly candidate Stu Mirsky kicks off his 'Stu Can Do' campaign in Rockaway.

And Democratic congressional candidate Stephen Harrison greets folks tonight at Ozzies in Park Slope (5th Ave. and Garfield Place) at 7.

In another sign that national Dems are looking to New York -- and an anticipated Hillary landslide -- to pick up seats in the House, DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel just called to talk about Congressman John Sweeney.

Emanuel just told reporters a few minutes ago on a conference call that U.S. Rep. John Sweeney really, really ought to appear before a New York Assembly committee investigating his role in organizing a $27,000 Lake Placid ski weekend for members of Congress that was attended mostly by lobbyists, local officials, and executives from the New York Power Authority.

Ted Blazer, the Chief Executive of the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which organized the trip, has testified that Sweeney was in charge of picking the guests. Sweeney has countered that he had nothing to do with the invitations, for which he said Blazer's organization was responsible.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky has asked Sweeney to testify and address the discrepancy. Emanuel, who desperately hopes to replace Sweeney with Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, said that the congressman owes it to New York voters to answer Brodsky's questions.

"You look at the news today, we got Iraq, raising energy prices, the economy," said Emanuel . "We are all busy people here, what are we doing drafting invite lists for a ski trip?"

And what are such busy people doing, for that matter, concerning themselves with proceedings in the New York State Assembly?

Jason Horowitz