Emanuel: Obama's Going to Do What He Was Elected To Do

Obama's new chief of staff talks about and Obama White House:

WSJ: Recently, I spoke with Mr. Emanuel during a short layover at the Detroit airport. Officially, he hadn't yet been offered the new post, and when queried about the prospect of serving in the Obama White House he demurred. But Mr. Emanuel, who turns 49 later this month, was eager to discuss Congress's agenda going forward. He explained how Democrats can avoid the mistakes that felled the Republican majority, and he reflected on the lessons learned as a high-ranking member of President Clinton's brain trust in the 1990s.

Asked what Barack Obama was elected to do, and what legislation he's likely to find on his Oval Office desk soonest, Mr. Emanuel didn't hesitate. "Bucket one would have children's health care, Schip," he said. "It has bipartisan agreement in the House and Senate. It's something President-elect Obama expects to see. Second would be [ending current restrictions on federally funded] stem-cell research. And third would be an economic recovery package focused on the two principles of job creation and tax relief for middle-class families."
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In both instances, "the lesson is to do what you got elected to do," said Mr. Emanuel. "Do what you talked about on the campaign. If you got elected, that's what people expect. Don't go off on tangents where part of your party is demanding an ideological litmus test. Neither of those things was part of the campaign."

Mr. Emanuel's slight build and basset hound eyes belie the "Rahmbo" moniker that aggressive tactics have earned him over the years. So does his background. The lawmaker's interests ran to ballet, not battleground states, while growing up on Chicago's tony North Shore in the 1970s as the middle son of a pediatrician who emigrated from Israel. A dance prodigy, he was offered a scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet but settled for a liberal arts degree from Sarah Lawrence and a master's in communications from Northwestern. Read more about Emanuel