Senator Rahm Emanuel?

Robert Novak is reporting that Nancy Pelosi is privately backing Rahm Emanuel as Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate if Obama is elected President.

At first glance, I thought this was a horrible idea. Emanuel would definitely not be considered a progressive Democrat and was in opposition to Howard Dean's 50 state strategy.

Chris Bowers, however, says Emanuel moving to the Senate might be a good thing for Progressives.

I am not ready to jump on Pelosi for this, for several reasons:

1. It simply might not be true.
   
2. Moving Emanuel out of the House would also take him out of the House leadership. Rahm Emanuel is one of the few people who would actually lose power by moving to the Senate. As such, such a move would be fine with me.
   
3. Moving Emanuel out of the House would open up the potential for a progressive, post-Pelosi speaker. Sure, Hoyer is listed here as a successor to Pelosi, but he is actually one year older than Pelosi. Clyburn is the same age as Pelosi. As such, right now Emanuel, who is 19 years younger than Pelosi and Clyburn, is clearly in line to be Speaker, starting sometime in the middle of next decade.
   
4. Moving Emanuel out of the House would open up the potential for a progressive replacement in his House seat. Back in 2002, he narrowly won his primary against a grassroots progressive, from what I understand.
   
5. In 2010, if he were in the Senate, Emanuel would undoubtedly receive multiple primary challenges for his seat, at least one of whom would probably be progressive. So, his place in the Senate would not even be a guarantee.