Rahm Emanuel, the #4 Democrat in the house has agreed to be Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Rahm is the representative of Illinois 5th, part of Chicago, so he has long known Barack as part of Chicago politics. Rahm has a record of being tough, take-no-prisoners guy. In his role as a Clinton staffer he earned the nick name "Rahm-bo." After election to congress, he was very successful as the head of the DCCC, leading the campaign that lead to the Democratic take over of the house in 2006. That earned him the position of head of the Democratic Caucus, fourth in the house behind Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.
So, tough, pragmatic, and a record of success. The cons: he has been cautious, and he's has expressed centrist tendencies both in writing (the book he co-authored "The Plan" warns against universal healthcare as politically impractical) and as a member of the "New Democrat" caucus, which is closely aligned with the DLC.
A good run down of the pros and cons can be found here.
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