Friends say he is also worried about burnout and losing touch with his young family due to the pressure of one of most high profile jobs in US
politics.

"I would bet he will go after the midterms," said a leading Democratic consultant in Washington. "Nobody thinks it's working but
they can't get rid of him – that would look awful. He needs the right
sort
of job to go to but the consensus is he'll go."

An official from the Bill Clinton era said that "no one will be surprised"
if Mr Emanuel left after the midterm elections in November, when the
Democratic party will battle to save its majorities in the house of
representatives and the senate.

It is well known in Washington that arguments have developed between pragmatic
Mr Emanuel, a veteran in Congress where he was known for driving
through
compromises, and the idealistic inner circle who followed Mr Obama to
the
White House.

His abrasive style has rubbed some people the wrong way, while there has been
frustration among Mr Obama's closest advisers that he failed to
deliver a
smooth ride for the president's legislative that his background
promised.

"It might not be his fault, but the perception is there," said the consultant, who asked not to be named. "Every vote has been tough,
from
health care to energy to financial reform.

"Democrats have not stood behind the president in the way Republicans did
for George W Bush, and that was meant to be Rahm's job."

There were sharp differences over health care reform, with Mr Emanuel arguing
that public hostility about cost should have forced them into
producing a
scaled down p