Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, has a wide-open political future after his current job is finished — and some pundits are speculating that his path could include a run for the White House in 2028.
Emanuel has been mentioned as a candidate to lead the Democratic National Committee or potentially taking a run for the U.S. Senate, if Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., decides not to seek reelection, Politico reported.
Political commentators Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine, speaking on "The Morning Meeting" podcast Tuesday, speculated that Emanuel could go for the brass ring with a run for the Democrat presidential nomination.
"Rahm Emanuel is tough," said Turrentine. "He is unafraid to pick a fight. He is unafraid to get in your face."
Emanuel has been a powerhouse for the Democrats for decades. He represented Illinois in the House of Representatives from 2003-09; served as White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama from 2009-10; and as mayor of Chicago from 2011-19, after which he was appointed by President Joe Biden as ambassador to Japan.
Emanuel also served in former President Bill Clinton's administration as assistant to the president for political affairs and as senior adviser for policy and strategy.
Turrentine compared Emanuel to President-elect Donald Trump and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., saying all three are "fighters" who have "authenticity."
But the podcasters questioned what Emanuel's biggest challenge would be in a primary race: His record in Chicago, opposition from progressive Democrats, being Jewish, or his personality.
Halperin said the biggest issue would be "opposition from the progressive wing of the party, which relates in part to his record in Chicago."
Emanuel came out swinging against his party's failure to keep the White House in a stinging opinion piece for The Washington Post on Tuesday,
"Campaigns of joy in an era of rage don't win elections," Emanuel wrote, noting that Trump won by casting himself as a "warrior" while "channeling a nation's fury," while Democrats remained "blind to the rising sea of disillusionment."
Emanuel also pilloried his party for having "consumed themselves in debates over pronouns, bathroom access, and renaming schools and adopted terms such as 'care economy' and 'Latinx' to win over voters" while disregarding inflation and other issues Americans were facing.
"It was a hermetically sealed conversation with ourselves, and we appeared much as we sounded: distant and detached," he wrote.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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