AP is reporting that President Barack Obama has selected former Commerce Secretary William Daley as his Chief of Staff, replacing Interim Chief of Staff Pete Rouse. The spot had been vacated late last year when former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel left his position to run for Mayor of Chicago. Not only does Mr. Daley have deep roots in Obama’s home city of Chicago, but he’s thought to have a very strong pro-business point of view, evidenced by his previous role as Commerce Secretary under President Clinton.

With the announcement Wednesday morning that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will soon be moving on to a role outside the White House, the next big question is: Who will succeed him? There have been a few names kicked around, but the smart money is on Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, and with the [...]

On the heels of this morning’s announcement that he will be leaving the White House, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs fielded many questions regarding his future, and his possible successor. Gibbs played it characteristically close to the vest, divulging very little in the way of new information, but he spoke about his plans, and at one point, seemed poised to get a little misty when talking about the relationships he has formed during his tenure.

After months of speculation that mainly centered around a move into a senior advisory position within the Obama administration, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs confirmed that he will be stepping down as press secretary in February. But instead of a senior administration post, Gibbs is leaving the White House altogether, a development that has only recently been rumored. No replacement for Gibbs has been named, but Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton is the heavy favorite.

Rahm Emanuel’s first TV spot, set to air tomorrow, has been released on YouTube. It’s called “Tough,” which is meant to refer to the “tough decisions” that his home city of Chicago faces — but also, no doubt, to reinforce Rahm’s reputation as a tough guy, one who has already walked the walk. Still, it’s a walk from the West Wing to the Rose Garden, not necessarily down Michigan Avenue. How will this resonate with Chicagoans?

This morning on Fox News Sunday David Axelrod, one of President Obama’s top advisers, told host Chris Wallace that he intends to leave the White House in “late winter, early spring” of 2011.

He plans to return to Chicago then to begin work on the President’s re-election campaign for 2012.

If you were wondering what Fox News was going to be up to all day while Washington flooded with ironic liberals rallying for sanity and against, well, Fox News, here’s a taste: former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich told Neil Cavuto this morning that, while he is still unsure what his positions are, he believes “Donald Trump is a very capable, obviously very successful person” with “a voice” who could impact the 2012 elections.

Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel‘s campaign for mayor of Chicago is going… well, mostly as expected. The feisty former Congressman has been conducting “listening tours” of the city where he’s been caught using hand sanitizer (!) after talking to constituents and driving reporters to paroxysms of violent rage. Now he brings the fun to the Chicago Sun-Times, who describe him as “characteristically combative” and “downright annoyed” at some of their questions.

Apparently political reporting is one step away from fisticuffs. Following Carl Paladino‘s altercation with New York Post reporter Fred Dicker the other week, Rahm Emanuel had his own Paladino moment with reporters the other day…sort of. Actually it seems two reporters had a Paladino moment with each other.

Rahm Emanuel has officially left the White House to officially prepare to run for Mayor of Chicago — and Tablet‘s Rachel Shteir officially thinks he doesn’t have a hope in hell. Put differently, she thinks that a Jew has about as much a chance of getting elected in Chicago as 8-day old baby Shlomo has [...]

This week, White House Chief of Staff-turned Chicago mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel began a “listening tour” on the streets of Chicago. And the city’s residents proved – both to Emanuel’s face and in speaking to local news reporters – that when it comes to sharing blunt, critical opinions, they can give Emanuel a run for his money.

Even before he joined the White House as President Obama‘s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel had quite a reputation. Stories about his ferocity are numerous; there’s even a website called rahmfacts.com that collects them. New York Times columnist David Brooks, though, has a different take on Emanuel.

Nitpicky? Yes. Hilarious? Also yes. Politico is reporting that the campaign video Rahm Emanuel released yesterday, in which the former Chief of Staff tells Chicagoans that he’s “glad to be home” and makes liberal use of the word “here” in regards to the city, was actually filmed in a Washington DC office. Can you blame him though? I mean, there’s no place in Illinois that he could have possibly found a gorgeous wall that white and bland.

And just like that Chief of Staff Rahm becomes candidate for Mayor of Chicago Rahm. Rahm Emanuel posted his first campaign video this afternoon announcing that he is launching a “Tell It Like It Is” neighborhood tour. In the announcement he doesn’t technically say he is running for mayor, just that he is “preparing to run for mayor.”

Bill Kristol thinks there is more to Rahm Emanuel’s exit than meets the eye. On Fox News Sunday this morning Chris Wallace wanted to know whether President Obama could hope to achieve some bipartisanship after the midterms. Kristol responded that he thought it was a definite possibility now that some of the more “arrogant” and polarizing figures (Emanuel, Summers, Orszag) in the administration were departing, before veering off into this little bit of conspiracy theorizing.

Tonight, Saturday Night Live opened with a sketch that lampooned Rahm Emanuel‘s tearful White House farewell speech. Fred Armisen‘s Barack Obama opens the segment with a rather harsh assessment of Emanuel, calling him “a man who has twisted a few arms and poked a few chests. A man who knows no fear, but knows how to make others afraid.”

Former White House Chief of Staff (and soon-to-be Chicago mayoral candidate) Rahm Emanuel learned the hard way that a reputation for being the “dead fish guy” at work is not easy to shake off. During one of his final senior staff meetings at the White House, his colleagues presented him with a dead Asian carp as a going away present as “something to show how we feel about you.”

On the heels of President Obama‘s announcement of Chief of Staff Rahm-placement Pete Rouse, ABC News’ Jake Tapper asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about accusations leveled by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The accusations, detailed on Tapper’s Political Punch blog, center around Rouse’s connection to Alaska, and suggest he was involved in pushing an ethics investigations of Palin. Gibbs dismissed the accusations with a chuckle, calling them “silly” and “baseless.”

President Barack Obama formally announced the departure of his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, in what was presented as the “least suspenseful announcement of all time.” Citing numerous reports of Emanuel’s plans to run for Mayor of Chicago, President Obama gave his friend a strong endorsement, calling him “extraordinarily well-qualified” for his next gig. As Emanuel took the podium, he was remarkably emotional as he thanked the President and cited the influence of his grandfather and parents. Also in attendance was Mr. Emanuel’s successor, Pete Rouse, who was officially introduced as Emanuel’s successor.

Well, it’s official—after weeks of speculation, President Barack Obama‘s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel will be stepping down tomorrow in order to launch his campaign for mayor of Chicago. Obama is expected to name Pete Rouse, a senior adviser, as his new chief of staff.

Rahm Emanuel may be leaving the White House, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be back in his house. Chicago Sun-Times columnist and talking in the third person enthusiast Michael Sneed is reporting that the tenant Emanuel leased his Chicago home to has no intention of moving out now that the Chief of Staff is returning from Washington. We can only imagine the barrage of four letter words this development has incurred.

While the decision has not yet been made official, ABC News is reporting that their sources tell them White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel may be making an exits sometime later this week, and that the rumors are true: he is eyeing the mayorship of Chicago in the wake of Mayor Richard Daley‘s departure.

President Barack Obama’s poll numbers aren’t looking too good these days, and no matter how much of a thrill he gets up his leg when the man speaks, Chris Matthews knows it…and knows the president has to shake things up.

There is just so much material for Jon Stewart to work with at the moment it sometimes takes him a few days to catch up. Last night Stewart tackled last week’s Dr. Laura N-word controversy and Sarah Palin‘s subsequent defense of it. And then ‘debated’ which word was worse.

Remember way back two weeks ago when Robert Gibbs pissed much of the media off with his complaint about the “professional left“? Well, Howard Dean does, and he circled back to it today on CNN’s State of the Union telling Candy Crowley that the real problem is not the “professional left” which doesn’t really exist, but the “people around the president [who] have really misjudged what goes on elsewhere in the country.”