Rahm Emanuel, Considering Chicago Mayor Run One Day, Has $1.2 Million War Chest

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel yearns for the day when he again holds elected office -- and has retained his $1.2 million war chest to help make that happen.

Emanuel, 50, told PBS' Charlie Rose on Monday he wants to be mayor of Chicago, leaving behind a one-time goal of becoming Speaker of the House. But, Emanuel added, he is a loyal supporter of the current mayor, Richard M. Daley, and hopes he will run again.

While exalted in Washington, Emanuel back home is just one of a string of political figures waiting to see if Daley seeks another term next February.

The announcement from Emanuel triggered this reaction from the Chicago Sun-Times' Fran Spielman, a veteran City Hall reporter : "Get in line," she wrote.

Emanuel is "is trying to mark his turf as the heir apparent to Mayor Daley by declaring his intention to run if his friend chooses not to seek a seventh term. But he's hardly the only one salivating on the sidelines while awaiting Daley's decision. Nor is he, necessarily, the frontrunner in that crowded field," Spielman wrote.

For his part, Emanuel on Tuesday night made a joke that seemed to play off the Rose interview, which was noteworthy because the usually disciplined Emanuel slipped and put on the record his desire to run when Daley stepped down.

"Before we get started I just want to make sure that everybody who can raise their hands, please do if you are registered on the South Side of Chicago," Emanuel said when he spoke at the "The Week's Opinion Awards" dinner.

Emanuel made his early mark in politics as a fundraiser -- Daley was one of his clients --and vaulted into national politics, raising millions for Bill Clinton's presidential campaign. When president-elect Barack Obama tapped Emanuel, a member of the House of Representatives, to be his chief of staff, his House political fund -- "Friends of Rahm Emanuel" -- had more than $1 million in it, and no law forced Emanuel to have to liquidate it. As of the April 15 "Friends" filing with the Federal Election Commission, Emanuel had $1,175,109.76 that could be transferred to a mayoral campaign.

Speculation about Emanuel's tenure in the White House started last January, when word of Emanuel's mayoral aspirations surfaced. At the time, Emanuel never said he wanted to run for City Hall, but the episode yielded the news that Emanuel promised Obama he would serve for two years, though that could be extended on Obama's request.

Deputy White House House Secretary Bill Burton played down the prospects of an Emanuel mayoral run in Obama's hometown.

"We all serve at the pleasure of the president, and Rahm very much enjoys the work that he does as chief of staff," Burton said.

"He was talking about a scenario where if Mayor Daley doesn't run for re-election, but we all know that Mayor Daley is running for re-election. It's something that many kids in Chicago dream of, growing up to be a mayor, so it's one of the great jobs in American politics. But it's just an ambition -- when I was a kid I wanted to be an astronaut," he said.

Asked whether Obama thinks Emanuel would be a good mayor of Chicago, Burton said, "I think the president thinks that Rahm Emanuel is a great chief of staff and enjoys having him in that job right now. Maybe 'enjoy' is the wrong word."

Emanuel opened up speculation about this future -- both in the White House and in Chicago politics -- when the master message manager decided to answer Rose's question, "Is there any other job in government you'd like to have?" Until Monday, Emanuel never put out an on-the-record answer about his post-White House ambition to be Chicago's mayor.

Emanuel was a House member from a safe Democratic Chicago district when Obama tapped him for chief of staff. Emanuel at the time was on a path to one day be speaker of the House -- the first Jewish speaker, which would have a special historical marker for Emanuel.

Emanuel dropped any notion of returning to Chicago to reclaim his House seat once it became obvious that his successor, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), would not roll over and move aside for Emanuel once he reappeared in Chicago.

In any event, in his own mind, Emanuel moved on.

"That's over," Emanuel said to Rose about aspirations to be Speaker of the House.

"No, I would one day -- first of all, let me say it this way, I hope Mayor Daley seeks re-election. I will work and support him if he seeks re-election. But if Mayor Daley doesn't, one day I would like to run for mayor of the City of Chicago. That's always been an aspiration of mine even when I was in the House of Representatives," Emanuel said.

Emanuel talked about what he missed in his House job:

"Yeah . . I miss the contact with constituents. You know, I miss being in the -- when you were running the office, that touch with people. I used to do, as you know, I developed this thing called Congress on Your Corner where I used to stand in the grocery stores with a table of constituent service, and just greet people.

"And you learned a lot. And one of the best pieces of legislation I introduced was the Elderly Justice Act, came from a lady who talked to me at a grocery store about what happened to her father in a nursing home, and the way I found out that the law on the books was no real federal bill that dealt with seniors.

"And that's a -- you know, not all stories are like that. I helped a small business get a loan that expanded a tubing company. I miss that. I mean, I love what I'm doing. I find great passion in it because I work for a great president with a breadth of issues that has -- if you're in public policy at a period of time in history that's important, one day I'll go back to elected office and say I've enjoyed it, I enjoyed that process."

Wrapping up the conversation about running for mayor, Emanuel underscored that he was not going to challenge Daley.

"Again I want to repeat because the mayor's a dear friend of mine, and I support him, I hope he seeks re-election. As you know, Charlie, you've been out to Chicago -- he's done a fabulous job, and one day I would like to -- but if he doesn't at some point, that will be something I'll do."