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The Blagojevich affair: Obama's first scandal?
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AP Photo/Mark Carlson
Barack Obama's rise from community organizer to President of the United States took place in record time. He's putting together his cabinet at a break-neck pace as well. Now he may be breaking speed records in another category. He's already got some asking "What did he know and when did he know it?" and he's still a month away from inauguration.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, was taken into custody yesterday as a result of an ongoing FBI probe into corruption. Among the things he's been accused of and recorded talking about, is using the seat vacated by President-elect Obama to garner favors and perhaps cash from would-be appointees. For more on Blagojevich and the charges leveled against him, see the link following this article.
In the true tradition of American political scandal, the item that may make the most news is not the alleged offenses, but the reaction to them. Barack Obama has not been implicated in any way by investigators in the charges against the governor. The governor reportedly even stated on one of the tapes that "The only thing I'm going to get out of Obama from this is appreciation." Barack made a statement yesterday: "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so we were not — I was not aware of what was happening,"
It seems a bit unusual that a senator who has vacated their seat due to election or appointment to a higher office, would not at least share some thoughts on possible replacements with the person making the appointment. If you were making the appointment wouldn't you seek the input of the person moving out and up? Later yesterday it was reported that David Axelrod, senior Obama advisor said the following during an interview last month when asked about a possible replacement for the senator: "I know he has talked to the governor and there a a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them." Later, the Obama team and Axelrod officially declared that Axelrod had "mis-spoke" and the governor and president-elect never discussed the issue.
Frankly, I find the official position much harder to believe than the original Axelrod statement. After all, how would Blagojevich know what to expect or not to expect from Obama if he'd never discussed the matter with him. I'm not suggesting that Barack Obama was in any way involved in the governor's alleged extortion attempts. I think this is on a par with the claim that in 20 years of sitting in Reverend Wright's church he had no idea where the guy was coming from. It's a typical political reaction to potential bad news. When in doubt, deny.
Maybe I'm wrong and the senator never discussed the issue with the governor. No doubt there are reporters and investigators working over-time at this moment trying to find anything that could show that such a conversation did, in fact, take place. It would be a huge news story, only because the President-elect stated in no uncertain terms that it didn't happen.
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