Obama in talks with Bill Daley

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama is considering bringing former Commerce Secretary Bill Daley into the administration in a top-ranking position, which would cement the Chicago presence in the White House and possibly bring to full circle a chain of events set off by Daley’s brother.

In one scenario under discussion, Bill Daley would be the president’s chief of staff, a position that opened up after Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley announced last year that he would not seek re-election. Within weeks, Obama’s first chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was on his way back to Chicago to run for mayor.

The talks with Bill Daley coincide with a grand shuffle in the West Wing, as top political adviser David Axelrod prepares to return to Chicago to work on Obama’s re-election campaign in a few weeks. The departure of Emanuel and Axelrod would make Valerie Jarrett the lone adviser from the president’s hometown.

Meanwhile, Obama has begun a review of the flow chart at the top levels of his administration with an eye toward making midterm adjustments that will last until his campaign in 2012. Among other top priorities, Obama is trying to reach out to independent voters with a strategy to collaborate with Republicans and spur the economy.

Bill Daley, 62, the son of one legendary Chicago mayor and brother of another, would bring a strong business resume to a team that must try to reach across the partisan divide. He is an executive with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and a prominent centrist Democrat.

In 2009, Daley was one of the first prominent Democrats to urge Obama to move toward the political center. In an op-ed piece that ran in the Washington Post, Daley said the party must either “plot a more moderate, centrist course” or risk major losses in midterm congressional elections and future elections.

And last July, Daley joined the board of trustees of the Third Way, a Democratic think thank whose agenda he characterized as “moderate, pro-business and pro-growth.”

Daley’s appointment to a White House post would not come without drawbacks, however. As Midwest chairman of JPMorgan, for example, Daley reportedly was engaged in discussions that led to the financial regulation bill approved by Congress.

Daley has spoken with administration officials about a range of subjects, according to a source familiar with the discussions who described them on the condition of anonymity.

Daley did not return calls to discuss the job prospects late Monday. Aides to the president, wrapping up his vacation in Hawaii, declined to speak about the matter.