Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) is prepared to do something he’s never done in his 10 years in Congress: take on Nancy Pelosi.

Larson, one of Speaker Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) closest allies, is not spoiling for such a fight. But the incoming caucus chairman said Tuesday that he will speak for rank-and-file members — even when they disagree with leadership.

For Larson, challenging the Speaker would, in and of itself, be a fairly dramatic break from his past.

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who is leaving the lower chamber to become White House chief of staff, wouldn’t hesitate to privately challenge Pelosi if he thought she was about to make a decision that would damage the caucus as a whole. Emanuel was especially sensitive to any leadership move that would endanger freshman Democrats, many of whom are centrists.

Emanuel’s fiery style infuriated some Democrats in the House, but no one doubted his effectiveness as a House leader.

Larson readily admits he is no Emanuel. In a recent interview on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program, Larson likened his style to that of World War II Gen. Omar Bradley, who was known as the “soldier’s general.”

Emanuel, Larson said, is more like Gen. George Patton.

During his tenure as caucus vice chairman, Larson has developed a reputation as skilled in building good personal relationships across wide swaths of the caucus. He is also known for lavishly praising Pelosi to the press and behind closed doors.

Members privy to those closed-door leadership meetings have privately criticized Larson for being too quick to dole out such accolades. In fact, that tendency caused some of his colleagues to worry that he was not the right man to lead a caucus that will have many competing interests under a larger ideological umbrella, and at a time when Pelosi’s power is soaring.

But because he was Pelosi’s quiet pick for the caucus job, Larson was not challenged as Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) jumped into, and then out of, the race. Averting a divisive leadership contest, Pelosi persuaded Van Hollen to stay on at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for another cycle.

In 2006, most on Capitol Hill expected Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) or Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) to win the vice chairman race, with Larson finishing a distant third. Larson, however, scored a huge upset in a triumph that some believe had Pelosi’s fingerprints on it.

Larson, meanwhile, is looking to dispel any notions that he is a Pelosi minion.

“My approach is going to be radically different from Rahm’s in this respect: I’m pretty much a bottom-up, member-intensive type of person,” Larson said. “That’s my stock and trade.

“Because what the caucus wants is what the American people want. They want candor, and they want you to level with them, and they want to feel as though you’re representing them at the leadership table, and also providing them, if they disagree with the leadership, the forum to express their views.”

And that means going to the mat for the caucus if it gets uncomfortable with Pelosi’s moves.