Skip to main content

Time & Perspective Quote by Rahm Emanuel

"Everybody knows they're on the Obama team: There isn't vice presidential vs. presidential division, there's not a generational pull. People have internalized that this is a real moment in history"

About this Quote

Team talk is how Washington turns ideology into something you can wear like a jersey, and Rahm Emanuel uses it here with a bruiser’s efficiency. “Everybody knows” is a power move: it pretends consensus into existence, collapsing doubt before it can organize. The point isn’t just unity; it’s discipline. By insisting there’s no “vice presidential vs. presidential division,” Emanuel is preemptively closing off the classic fissures of modern campaigns: rival power centers, resentful staffers, donors hedging their bets, and the ever-present temptation to treat the VP slot as its own brand.

Then comes the smarter cut: “not a generational pull.” In one phrase, Emanuel drains a potent storyline of its oxygen. Obama’s rise invited a ready-made script about youth versus establishment, the new versus the old. Emanuel refuses that framing, because generational politics can turn into generational entitlement. He wants coalition, not a youth movement that might later demand its own agenda.

The final line - “People have internalized that this is a real moment in history” - is the rhetorical payoff. “Internalized” suggests something deeper than enthusiasm: a shared, almost private conviction that makes volunteers show up, donors keep giving, and skeptics stay quiet. It’s also a quiet warning to insiders: if you break ranks, you’re not just being disloyal to a candidate, you’re missing history. In the Obama era, “history” wasn’t only a backdrop; it was the campaign’s most powerful organizing principle, leveraged to keep ambition aligned and the machinery humming.

Quote Details

TopicTeam Building
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Emanuel, Rahm. (2026, January 16). Everybody knows they're on the Obama team: There isn't vice presidential vs. presidential division, there's not a generational pull. People have internalized that this is a real moment in history. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everybody-knows-theyre-on-the-obama-team-there-121067/

Chicago Style
Emanuel, Rahm. "Everybody knows they're on the Obama team: There isn't vice presidential vs. presidential division, there's not a generational pull. People have internalized that this is a real moment in history." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everybody-knows-theyre-on-the-obama-team-there-121067/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Everybody knows they're on the Obama team: There isn't vice presidential vs. presidential division, there's not a generational pull. People have internalized that this is a real moment in history." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/everybody-knows-theyre-on-the-obama-team-there-121067/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Rahm Add to List
Unity and Purpose in the Obama Team: Emanuel's Insight
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

USA Flag

Rahm Emanuel (born November 29, 1959) is a Politician from USA.

23 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes