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Sunday, January 09, 2005

Rep. Rahm Emanuel to lead DCCC

Posted by Bob Brigham

AP:

Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, a former political operative for President Clinton, was named head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Sunday, replacing the late Rep. Robert Matsui.

Emanuel, a former senior staffer for the House Democrats' fund-raising and recruiting organization, will lead the Democratic effort to regain control of the House in 2006.

You can find out more about the DCCC, read the Stakeholder (DCCC blog) and here is the link to the new DCCC Social Security site.

The Stakeholder has Pelosi's statement:

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi today named Congressman Rahm Emanuel of Illinois to lead the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"House Democrats are focused and determined to win a majority in the House in 2006, and Rahm Emanuel will be an outstanding leader in this effort," Pelosi said. "Rahm knows this country, its people and its politics from the neighborhoods up, which has been a key to his success and will be a key to ours in 2006. Rahm is a master strategist with the expertise and passion to build on the foundation that our dear friend Bob Matsui built during the last two years."

In the 1980s, Emanuel held senior staff positions at the DCCC, and helped produce significant victories. He played a major role in the election of Bill Clinton as his Director of Finance in the 1992 Presidential campaign. Emanuel served as a top White House advisor to President Clinton from 1993 to 1998, first as Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and then as Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. As a Member of Congress, he has distinguished himself with thoughtful ideas and strategic insights.

"Rahm brings something more than a long resume," Pelosi said. "He brings the passion of an immigrant's son, and the street-smarts of his hometown of Chicago. His uncle has spent decades as a police sergeant in the same northwest side district Rahm now represents in Congress. His father was a pediatrician and treated thousands of children in the community."

Emanuel said: "I thank Leader Pelosi and my Democratic colleagues for their confidence in me, and I appreciate the opportunity to lead the DCCC. This is about winning elections by setting the right priorities for our nation and its future. I look forward to a battle of ideas with the Republicans that will engage and motivate voters across this great country."

Emanuel, who was re-elected in November to his second term as Representative of Illinois' 5th District with 78 percent of the vote, was recently appointed to the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. Emanuel was chosen by his Democratic freshmen class as Democratic Whip for their class. In the 2004 election cycle, he served as a Vice Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee of the New Democratic Coalition.

Emanuel is the perfect choice to lead the DCCC.

Posted at 03:44 PM in 2006 Elections, 2006 Elections - House, Activism, General | Technorati

Comments

Agreed, great choice. Good guy. I especialy love the "Hypocrisy of the week" he has on his website. But most importantly, a great planner/organizer. In 88, helped Dems pick up seats despite Bush's blowout over Dukakis. Also, he raised a then-astounding $90 million for Clinton's 92 election. Wonder what he can do now with netroots.

Posted by: T at January 9, 2005 07:38 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

He's also had a little bit of training in coordinating Congressional campaigns. I understand that he gave lots of assistance to Melissa Bean's successful campaign. The Bean-Crane race was seen as a proxy war between Emanuel and Henry Hyde. Emanuel won.

Granted, that's just one race, not the entire country, but it is a nice test run.

Posted by: Joshua at January 11, 2005 03:06 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment