White House Shake Up? Rahm Emanuel Departure Would Augur 'Change'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2010— -- White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel hasn't yet decided whether he'll leave the administration and run for mayor of Chicago. But with aides saying that they'd be surprised if he didn't, speculation has begun over who his potential replacement might be and what staffing shake-ups might follow.

The departure of Emanuel, the man considered the administration's chief operating officer, would come at a crucial time for the White House, which faces sagging poll numbers and the prospect of losing Democratic majorities in Congress in November.

The move could be a chance for the White House to retool its operations, but some observers expect the president would replace Emanuel with someone close to the inner circle and with experience inside an administration.

Vice President Biden's chief of staff Ron Klain, White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, Deputy National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina are all said to be on the list of candidates, should a replacement need to be named.

Yet the choice may also be made to appoint someone from outside the administration -- someone who could bring fresh perspective and energy at a time when the White House may need it the most.

The former Senator Majority Leader, Tom Daschle, and Obama's 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, are both said to be on the list of names to be considered from outside the administration.

Emanuel's departure is not widely expected to trigger a mass exodus, however, with two years to go before the end of Obama's first term.

"I think there's no doubt that there will be people that return to their lives and their families," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said of the typical turnover that occurs within presidential administrations. "But we've got a while before that. We've got at least two months before this election -- or about two months before this election before we get to a lot of those decisions."

Senior White House advisor and fellow Chicagoan David Axelrodsaid he is not thinking about turning in his White House pass anytime soon.

"I am certainly going to be here for a while and we have a lot of work to do," Axelrod told ABC's Ann Compton. "I am very committed to this President and I think he's got the best interests of the American people at heart and he's working his heart out and I want to support him in that. At some point, I'm going to leave. I've been very candid about that. We have a reelection campaign to think about and I'll turn my attention to that, but that's off in the future."