Yesterday’s announcement that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley will not run for re-election has created a buzz in political circles as speculation on whether White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will pursue his ambition to run for that seat. Already, pundits are discussing who might replace Emanuel and an interesting name popped up:
A wild card could be a Democratic officeholder, such as outgoing Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell or Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia.
I posed the question to Kevin Hall, Communications Director for the senator. His answer:
We’re in the Shenandoah Valley talking with Virginians about the economy and jobs and that’s more relevant and important than speculative political gossip from inside the Beltway.
OK. So is that a yes or a no? 😆 Guess I’ll have to wait until Saturday’s pig roast to ask him myself 😉
UPDATE: No need to wait til Saturday. The answer is no.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
By pundits, you mean people who throw darts at walls? Warner would be yielding the seat to a Republican (not something that Obama particularly needs at the moment), and wouldn’t exactly be a great liaison to Congress.
Among a million other reasons that it would be a bad idea, of course.
If you happen to want a change in terms of how the Administration has been working, Mark Warner is kind of like the antithesis of Rahm Emmanuel, I suppose.
Mark Warner would be the worst choice for cheif of staff I can imagine. He likes to be the B….O….S….S.