As Democrats grapple with a possible change in leadership atop the party's national committee, political strategist David Axelrod recommended Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, former Chicago mayor, and longtime Washington, D.C., insider who has served three presidents.
"Dems need a strong and strategic party leader, with broad experience in comms; fundraising and winning elections. One thought I surfaced on @HacksonTap: Ambassador @RahmEmanuel," Axelrod wrote Wednesday in a post on X, referring to his podcast "Hacks on Tap." "There may be others but he is kind of sui genesis [sic: generis]: Dude knows how to fight and win!"
Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, strongly criticized for backing President Joe Biden's effort to stay in the 2024 race before he dropped out in July, reportedly is not expected to seek renomination when the party holds a leadership vote early next year.
"If they said, 'Well, what should we do? Who should lead the party?' I would take Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, and I would bring him back from Japan and I would appoint him chairman of the Democratic National Committee," Axelrod, chief architect of Barack Obama's presidential campaigns, said Tuesday on "Hacks on Tap," according to The Hill.
"He is the most skillful, political kind of infighter in the Democratic Party," Axelrod said. "He's been a member of Congress, he's been White House chief of staff, he's been the mayor of Chicago. Now, he's been ambassador to Japan, and he ran, in 2005 and [2006], the campaign to take back the House."
Emanuel was a senior adviser in Bill Clinton's White House and Obama's first chief of staff. Emanuel represented Illinois' fifth congressional district for three terms and is former chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Democratic Caucus.
Emanuel reportedly said in August that he planned to leave his post in Japan by Thanksgiving. Had Vice President Kamala Harris prevailed on Election Day, he wanted to seek a new post in her administration as National Security Adviser, The Hill reported. With Republican Donald Trump winning, though, a new ambassador to Japan likely will be named.
"He knows how to do this, and he would be a presence in the media and so on, fearless about taking on Trump," Axelrod said on his podcast of Emanuel.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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