Rahm In NH: Bare-Knuckle Politics, But No Punch On First Primary

By Michael Graham, NH Journal

Former Chicago mayor and Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is a tough-talking pol who isn’t afraid of a fight. And if you don’t believe it, just ask him.

“Nobody walked into the ring with Rahm Emanuel who didn’t walk out with a broken nose,” Emanuel told NHJournal after his appearance at Politics and Eggs Monday morning, repeating a line he used often during his swing through the Granite State.

Emanuel has carefully cultivated his reputation as a bare-knuckled politico. He’s known in political circles for mailing a rotting fish to the office of a pollster he felt had failed him, and for following Congressman Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) into the congressional gym showers to confront him—naked—about an upcoming vote.

And while it’s true he pushed some political buttons other Democrats won’t touch, most notably regarding transgender issues and pronouns, most of Emanuel’s stump speech was standard party-line fare.

That includes evading an answer on the question of whether New Hampshire should host his party’s first presidential primary in 2028. Rather than a yes or no answer, Emanuel said the Granite State’s retail politics tradition was a good fit for him.

“When I campaigned for Congress, I stood at L stops, I went to grocery stores. I think it’s very important to be exposed so people can lift the hood, check the oil,” Emanuel said. But no endorsement of the New Hampshire primary.

On the other hand, the former ambassador to Japan didn’t hesitate to critique President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. He called the decision to attack Iran “a war of choice, and it was a bad choice.”

Asked about Trump’s treatment of America’s European allies, in particular on the issue of annexing Greenland, Emanuel said, “If they ever make a sequel to the movie ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ I would recommend two of the lead roles, and there’s a lot of competition in this administration.”

Emanuel denounced what he calls corruption in D.C. politics, arguing that “Washington needs a big power washer.” Part of that power washing includes a ban on federal employees and politicians from betting in prediction markets.

“You have young men and women from Portsmouth serving in the Air Force putting their lives on the line, and you have some nepo baby in Palm Beach, betting Daddy’s inheritance on inside information,” Emanuel said.

“Every member of Congress and their family, every member of their staff, every Cabinet member, every member of their family, every person in the federal government, from the president on and down… You cannot participate (in predictive markets).”

The “nepo baby” reference raised eyebrows among some Granite State politicos. Last week, Emanuel endorsed Stefany Shaheen, daughter of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in the NH01 Democratic primary.

Emanuel also raised eyebrows among Democrats when he confronted his party over its “woke” politics, particularly on transgender issues.

“As my kids would say, ‘We lost the plot,’” Emanuel said of his party. “We had a school in San Francisco that wanted to take away Abraham Lincoln’s name. They never asked whether the kids knew why (to strip the name) Abraham Lincoln.

“We’ve got a kid trying to figure out their pronouns,” Emanuel added. “Meanwhile, we’ve got 30 other kids in the class who don’t know what a pronoun is. We’re worried about a pronoun, and we’ve got 30 kids who can’t tell you what a pronoun is?”

Education was a major focus of Emanuel’s remarks, including an embrace of technical school and job training, not just college diplomas. It was a message that resonated with state Sen. Sue Prentiss (D-Lebanon).

“I like how he talked about the different pathways of education — college, community college, going into the military, or a trade school. He treats them all the same, and I could relate to that,” Prentiss said. “I think he brought solutions forward, making the point that we need to be unified around solutions, not what divides us.”

According to a new report from Axios, Democrats are beginning to unite around the notion that their 2028 nominee should be a straight, White, Christian male. That would exclude Emanuel, who is Jewish.

Asked about that conversation inside his party, Emanuel dismissed it as the wrong approach.

“The question is, do you have the ideas that address the challenges that are facing America, regardless of who’s saying it?

‘The voters will decide whether gender is more important than the ideas. And more importantly, whether these are tough times that require a tough leader who knows how to do tough things and get them done on behalf of the American people.”

Emanuel’s New Hampshire stop caught the attention of Americans for Prosperity.

“New Hampshire understands what brings national figures to the state and is quick to recognize the intent behind high‑profile visits. Rahm Emanuel is seeking to promote an agenda, yet his record tells a different story,” said AFP-NH’s Sarah Scott.

“Under his leadership, property taxes rose, pension debt ballooned even as taxes increased, and short‑term fixes like borrowing and asset sales were used to paper over deeper problems. New Hampshire’s success comes from rejecting exactly this kind of approach.”

How serious is Emanuel about a White House run?

“If I think I have what it takes (to solve America’s problems), I’ll jump in the deep end of the pool.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.