Michael Scherer reports:
White House aides are preparing for the possibility that Rahm Emanuel may step down as chief of staff as soon as early October if he decides to run for mayor of Chicago, according to a person familiar with deliberations in the West Wing.
One issue hastening the timing of Emanuel’s departure is concern over whether he can build a campaign operation while holding down the second most powerful job in the Federal Government. If he chooses to go forward with the mayoral race, Emanuel intends to be sensitive to the fact that his dual role could create the appearance of using his government office to his personal advantage, say two people familiar with internal deliberations.
Even though he has been briefed by counsel on not using White House resources to aid a mayoral run, Emanuel has apparently been “working the phones of Chicago political and community leaders” and has commissioned a poll to test the waters.