Tort Reform - Can Rahm Emanuel protect his boss from tilt leftward?

Designated Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has a reputation as an effective fighter and a pol who assesses legislation on a case-by-case basis.  Today on Pointoflaw.com, Carter Wood documents Emanuel's voting record on issues related to tort reform.  It's a mixed bag and reflects the emphasis this pol puts on reading the political winds right and behaving accordingly.

But can this pugnacious guy protect his boss the new President from tilting leftward when the country needs to be united, in the center?  That's the question on the minds of tort-reform watchers.  Earlier on this blog plaintiff attorney Bill Marler of Marler Clark opined that it's likely Obama will be on the side of tort reform if only to manifest that he's a moderate.

Can this combo of a shrewd pol as chief of staff and an equally shrew pol as president damper the again-emerging excesses of the plaintiff bar and the state attorneys general?  We can probably tell a lot from how the new administration will conduct itself now and into its first 100 days.  It knows the meter has started running, even before that official 100-day marker and every word and action are being deconstructed.