Barack Obama has asked the hard-knuckled partisan Rahm Emanuel to be his Chief of Staff.
Rahm currently represents the 5th District of Chicago and has been a force in the House since he was elected in 2002.
Before becoming a congressman Emanuel was a senior adviser to President Clinton.
If Emanuel accepts the position there will likely be a power vacuum in Democratic Leadership. Emanuel chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 election that swept his party into power.