WASHINGTON – Rahm Emanuel is a fighter and proud of it.
“Nobody got into the ring with me and didn’t come out with a broken nose,” he told The Post during a half-hour interview this week.
Now the former Obama White House chief of staff and Chicago mayor is preparing for his toughest fight yet — and potentially a run for president in 2028.
“If I were to run, it would be about making sure people have what it takes to build a better life,” he said.
“Do I fight? Yes, I do. But it’s not pitting one American against another. It’s getting a minimum wage for Americans, getting universal pre-K that they never had before.”
“There was no kindergarten in Chicago, there was no pre-K in Chicago. Our graduation rate was 56% and I drove it to 83% and 67% of our kids went to college.”
It is tempting to view the 66-year-old as yesterday’s man. By 2028, it will have been 20 years since Emanuel’s former boss was elected as the first black president of the United States, and nine years since Emanuel himself left the Chicago City Council with just 25% approval. His only public role since then has been a relatively quiet three years as Joe Biden’s ambassador to Japan.
Emanuel’s response was that Democrats needed to look back so they could move forward, with one strategist emphasizing that his approach was “entirely derivative of the Clinton playbook.”
“The problem with my party is that for the last four years, the only room we’ve been comfortable in has been the bathroom,” he told The Washington Post, referring to the party’s advocacy on transgender issues.
“If you want to run for president and do the job, you have to be comfortable in the family room, the classroom, the board room, the break room, the situation room, not just the bathroom.”
“I think Democrats, at least in the last election, put themselves in a cultural bind, where we were standing up for a set of issues that might seem essential to us, but were secondary to the public,” Emanuel added.
“We brought the culture wars into our schools and lost.”
“His ambitions are taller than he stands”
Polls for the hypothetical 2028 Democratic primary don’t even mention Emanuel, instead testing headline-grabbing figures like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and even Emanuel’s friend and Illinois governor, JB Pritzker.
But Democratic sources not connected to Emanuel say he will enjoy some advantages if he decides to run — specifically his relationship with the still-popular Obama and his deep ties to business giants, major donors and even A-list celebrities through his brother, the big-time Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel.
“He tries to listen at least as much as he talks, which is very difficult for him,” revealed a Democratic strategist who has worked with Emanuel in the past.
“He’s in the penthouse in Central Park making his case. He’s making his case at the highest level in New York — literally, in the penthouse.”
“Sure his ambitions are taller than he stands, but no one ever said short guys couldn’t jump,” this person added of the 5-foot-7 Emanuel.
A friend who worked with Emanuel during his mayoral tenure noted that he still has a broad support network, including staffers from his days as a congressman in the mid-2000s who are volunteering their services as he weighs his political future.
“People around him stick with him for the long haul, because he builds this loyalty, excitement, and energy around actually getting things done,” this source said.
The person continued, saying: “His relations with the party are deep, broad, and very deep, and he has fought many great battles.” “He uniquely positions himself as someone who has gotten things done at the local and national level with two presidents and a mayor.”
Israel question
Emanuel may want to be the standard bearer for Democrats, but do Democrats want him to hold that standard?
The strategist who previously worked with Emanuel insisted that many of the party’s voters yearn for someone pragmatic to steer the party back toward the political center, but that the “zeitgeist” favors “people who can embrace, showcase, and showcase chaos” like Ocasio-Cortez.
The source expected Emanuel to “pick and choose places where he can appear to be a ‘leftist’ to improve his position, noting his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Emanuel, who recently called for an end to US military aid to the Jewish state, is scheduled to visit Israel in July to lecture at the Center for United States Studies at Tel Aviv University.)
Three of the potential 2028 Democratic nominees — Emanuel, Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — are Jewish and will face questions about how they treat Israel amid widespread left-wing backlash over its wars against Hamas and Iran.
Hallie Soifer, CEO of the American Jewish Democratic Council, claimed that many American Jews can relate to Emanuel’s position of “being pro-Israel and opposed to this current government.”
“Whether they are elected or not does not depend on the fact that they are Jewish,” she said. “It’s really about choosing the best candidate.”
“It’s good for the party to think there’s still a chance for people like him,” the strategist said of Emanuel. “And I say that as someone who would prefer someone with his skill set, attitude and experience. But I’m sorry that’s not really what the market is looking for.”
A former Biden White House official said Emanuel will have to find a way to win over Black voters over his handling of the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. Emanuel’s administration kept dashcam footage of the shooting for 13 months before a court ordered it released. (Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder in 2018 and was released after serving just over three years in prison.)
“Anyone can run their record in Chicago, and that will block the black votes they need to be credible,” this official said. “He did make a trip to South Carolina and the response was lukewarm.”
Well connected friends
Emanuel’s network extends beyond politics. His best friend is Michael J. Sachs, the billionaire CEO of Chicago-based asset management firm GCM Grosvenor. Sachs is a major donor to the Democrats, and even helped Obama build his massive presidential center on the city’s South Side.
As for Arie, he and Ram speak daily but maintain a professional distance, a source said. Ari Emanuel has been holding fundraisers for his brother’s previous campaigns but has played no official role, a situation that could change at the presidential level.
One veteran Democratic operative summed it up: “I don’t think he’ll win the nomination, but he will advance conversation, which is always helpful. Democrats need to have competitive primaries and welcome all ideas. Democrats need to welcome all ideas.”
“But if he can get some early wins, he can do it.”