Opinion: All roads led to Rahm

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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel’s decision to resign to run for mayor of Chicago will unleash a torrent of analysis, some of it in the pages of The Times, about his influence in the Obama administration. The curious thing is that this sort of attention would focus on an office that theoretically is a managerial one, not a policy or political position. The reason would seem obvious: Emanuel was an intimate advisor, not just a facilitator or traffic cop.

There is confirmation of that reading in a recent comment by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Rebutting the conventional wisdom that Emanuel killed a ‘public option’ in healthcare reform, Sebelius nevertheless said that his role was ‘more in the tactical, how do we get from here to there, you know, what is the pathway, what’s the vote look like, who do we need, who don’t we have, and he was very hands-on in every step of that process.’

Hardly the job description of a mere manager. If this position continues to transcend its name, perhaps another title is in order. How about consigliere?

-- Michael McGough