President-elect Obama’s selection of Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff is encouraging. The Illinois congressman is someone who knows how Congress works, will make sure Obama doesn’t get rolled by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and has a history of beating back the left wing of his party when it goes so far astray that it starts to scare voters. Of course he’s at least as ruthless and partisan as Karl Rove, but why mention that? Winning big entitles a president to a little partisanship.