May 11, 2008 - On a day when it seemed that everybody was beating up on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton -- even "Saturday Night Live" had run a skit making fun of her -- one person came to her defense on Sunday: Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the No. 3 Democrat in the House.

Mr. Emanuel called to assail Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, for remarks he made when asked about the…