by Frank Holmes, reporter
President Donald Trump will be inaugurated on Monday, and the angriest man in D.C. isn’t Joe Biden; it’s Barack Obama.
Obama thought he had mastermined a plan to keep Trump from returning to the White House and cleaning up the federal government forever…but voters blew his scheme to bits.
With Joe Biden already forgotten even before he’s out of office, everyone in Washington as their eyes fixed on 2028, and they all ask the same question: Who will be their presidential candidate in four years?
To be sure, everyone in politics wants to run for the top office: Kamala Harris has considered running for governor of California as a stepping-stone to a second presidential campaign. Current California Governor Gavin Newsom has designs on the Democratic nomination. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer could also mount a campaign.
But there’ evidence that Barack Obama has already settled on his candidate…and it’s not a name that’s in the mix.
Former Chicago Mayor and Obama White House insider Rahm Emanuel has got serious presidential buzz, if you know where to look.
Rahm, who is now U.S. ambassador to Japan, had his name thrown into the mix to become the leader of the Democratic Party itself.
Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times about his plans after the Biden administration ends on Monday: “First, come home second talk and listen to folks at home about best way to serve and build what we care about.”
His name was floated to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee—an understandable view considering its poor track record.
Also, Emanuel—who is seen to be close to the donor class—draws strong opposition from the party’s extreme left-wing members.
For example, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., thinks Rahm would bomb as DNC chairman. “If you want to know the seed of the party’s political crisis, that’s it,” she said.
There is a disease in Washington of Democrats who spend more time listening to the donor class than working people.
If you want to know the seed of the party’s political crisis, that’s it.
The DNC needs an organizer who gets people. Not someone who sends fish heads in the mail https://t.co/32LueUrsG8
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 16, 2024
Of course, that does not mean Emanuel wants to bow out of the spotlight—and its access to power. Instead, he told a Chicago crowd early last month that he wants to maintain his “enjoyment” of “public service”—another term for politics.
But it looks like Rahm sees both those positions as a temp job: He is ready to become president, and the Obama machine might just stand full-square behind him.
“If they said, ‘Well, what should we do? Who should lead the party?’ I would take Ambassador Rahm Emanuel,” said David Axelrod, a close insider to the Obamas and friend of Rahm’s, on the “Hacks on Tap” podcast late last year.
Axelrod has been a dependable insight into the Obama family’s thinking: He said Biden was too old to run in 2024, he said he had to step aside, and he hinted Kamala Harris wasn’t running a winning campaign.
Speaking of which … Rahm Emanuel just offered the DNC his own advice on how to win.
Emanuel, who is known for mailing a dead fish to a pollster and repeatedly stabbing a table with a steak knife while calling his political enemies “dead,” said the Democrats are not angry enough.
“Campaigns of joy in an era of rage don’t win elections,” wrote Emanuel in The Washington Post on Tuesday.
He blamed the party for seeming “distant and detached” for carrying on endless “debates over pronouns, bathroom access, and renaming schools and adopted terms such as ‘care economy’ and ‘Latinx’ to win over voters.”
The Democrats need a “warrior” who starts “channeling a nation’s fury” against his opponent.
“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.”
-Rahm Emanuel, White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama & served as Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019… pic.twitter.com/fLs45CDR46— Mooo2u2Chick (@Mooo2u2) January 13, 2025
Those in the area believe Obama is behind him. Longtime observers say Rahm Emanuel pushed aside local Democrats to usher in an era of “Manchurian candidates” controlled by the Obama family.
Ever since The first Gay black president @BarackObama backed @RahmEmanuel for mayor of Chicago it’s been nothing but Manchurian candidates mayors. Rahm Emanuel, 55th mayor, 2011-2019; Lori Lightfoot, 56th mayor, 2019-2023; Brandon Johnson, 57th mayor, 2023-. The only real…
— LifeCoachCW (@LifeCw) January 14, 2025
Did Axelrod give away the game? Did he let the cat out of the bag about Obama’s 2028 presidential choice?
Political commentators Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine think Emanuel could be a serious presidential contender—with some reservations.
“Rahm Emanuel is tough,” said Turrentine on ”The Morning Meeting” on Tuesday. “He is unafraid to pick a fight. He is unafraid to get in your face.”
If Emanuel decides to run, it’s not clear the electorate will warm up to the rageaholic. Emanuel’s table-stabbing escapades might even be enough to make American voters agree with AOC: “The DNC needs an organizer who gets people. Not someone who sends fish heads in the mail.”