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By CJP | November 7, 2008
 Â Â So glad you asked. Â Emanuel is Barack Obama's first staff choice for his administration, and will be the White House Chief of Staff. Â Previous chiefs of staff include Andy Card and Mack McClarty. Â Not ringing any bells? Â That's the point. Â This is a behind-the-scenes job known in Washington as all guts, no glory, and a job whose only responsibility is to make the president's job easier. Â What else do we know about Emanuel?
- He is an amputee. Â He lost the top of a digit as a teenager, when sliced his finger open at his job at Arby's and then it got infected. Â Nasty.
- He's an artiste. Â Although he was offered a scholarship to study with the Joffrey ballet, he headed to Sarah Lawrence for college instead.Â
- He's a power player. Â He is currently a Democratic Congressman from Chicago. Â After helping the Dems win back the majority in 2006, he got the #4 job in the House leadership as a reward for his efforts.
- He a DC veteran and has the scars to prove it. He worked in the Clinton White House, where he was demoted for his sharp-elbows, but took his medicine and worked his way back up the ladder.
- He is Orthodox Jewish, is married and has three young children who live in Chicago.
- Here's the inside scoop from CJP's unnamed insiders:
Our Unnamed Republican says, "Partisan. It is good for Obama because he can keep the crazy house chairman in line....at least for a while.  Republicans respect Rahm, but his partisanship makes Tom Delay blush."Â
Our Secret Democrat says, "IÂ think Dem Caucus is likely pretty pleased with his selection...he's got the bull dog persona to get the job done for Obama, and at same time will respect the role Congress plays in our gov't (unlike Bush in his unitary executive mode)."
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