Obama again denies discussing Senate successor with Blagojevich.
Obama again denies discussing Senate successor with Blagojevich.
Yesterday, President-elect Obama denied discussing with Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) who should fill his recently-vacated U.S. Senate seat. However, bloggers quickly noted two different news accounts suggesting that Obama had recently met or spoken with Blagojevich regarding his successor. Yet in a joint interview with the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune today, Obama again denied any contact with Blagojevich regarding his seat:
Q: Have you ever spoken to Gov. Blagojevich about the Senate seat?
OBAMA: I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time. My strong belief is that it needed to be filled by somebody who is going to represent the people of Illinois and fight for them. And beyond that, I was focused on the transition.
Yesterday, Obama senior adviser David Axelrod said he was “mistaken” when he recently suggested that the President-elect had met with Blagojevich to discuss the open seat.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
I’m really thankful that this came to light AFTER the election.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pmEven though Obama’s nose is clean, many would stubbornly have tried to taint his image by tying him to this mess.
Blago should resign immediately, but he won’t. Maybe if I sent him a check for $500,000…?
December 10th, 2008 at 3:12 pmRod Blagojevich will be sarah palin’s running mate in 2012 since we all know repukelicans reward incompetence and graft.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pmobama’s denials mean nothing. take a look at any of the prominent political news outlets and note the framing:
‘can obama escape the taint of blago’ (time)
What Didn’t He Know, and When Didn’t He Know It?Obama’s unsatisfyingly vague response to the Blagojevich scandal.
By John Dickerson
lotsa candidates vying for the jeff gerth role in smears and innuendo coverage of the obama presidency. just watch as it develops.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pmThey can smear all they want. It won’t work. It didn’t work during the campaign and it’s not going to work now.
I seriously doubt that Obama would state emphatically that he did not talk to Blogo about the seat if it wasn’t the truth. That kind of a lie would be too easy to expose.
It would not have mattered if he did talk to Blago about who would take his seat. What if Blago called him and said, “Who would you like to see take your seat”. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that and would make sense to me if it did happen. I don’t even think it would be wrong if Obama had called Blago and said, “You know, I favor X for my seat but who you choose is strictly up to you”.
It is obvious that Obama didn’t get into any kind of “play for pay” scheme with Blago and that’s all that really matters here.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pmThe story is beating a dead horse here. Clearly Obama was not part of nor in the pay-for-play scheme orchestrated by Governor Rod Baloneyb*tch. Even Jesse Jackson Jr., known now as Candidate #5, was completely in the dark. The media should be focused on Obama’s plan to fix the economy and this country in his Administration next year, where the bailout money gone since Hank Paulson, the chief wizard of disaster, is in charge, and what other criminal acts that the clown President doing now and until he leaves office on January 20th.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:51 pm‘They can smear all they want. It won’t work. It didn’t work during the campaign and it’s not going to work now. I seriously doubt that Obama would state emphatically that he did not talk to Blogo about the seat if it wasn’t the truth. That kind of a lie would be too easy to expose’
Not necessarily bilbo. Two more sources were reported today which cite Obama had been in contact with Blagojevich in November. So Obama’s first statement yesterday may have been false. Obama’s own man, Axelrod, said in an interview they had talked back in November, but then backpedaled and played it off as he “was mistaken”???? Doesn’t it seem just a little too convenient timing that he was “mistaken” about that particular subject NOW? We may not know the truth about this for quite a while. But Blago or others could still indicate Obama, and why should we give a politician from Illinois, Obama, the benefit of the doubt? They need to investigate it further.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:52 pmZooey Says:
Blago should resign immediately, but he won’t. Maybe if I sent him a check for $500,000…?
You know, Zoo, politicians like Blago, who complain of not seeing enough $$$ in their respective capacities, end up seeing nothing but red once they’re drowning in legal debt.
December 10th, 2008 at 3:57 pmAspiring to make a decent living is fine, but money hungriness comes with its own price. Blago is thinking about his paycheck before the people. He, like the houseplant in Washington, sees his office as a vehicle to build connections for private life — he does’t care that his approval rating is 13% and that he doesn’t get along with anybody.
Two more sources were reported today which cite Obama had been in contact with Blagojevich in November.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:02 pm———————-
In contact with Blagojevich about what? How do we know what they talked about unless we were there? Were you there? Was the source that is being quoted there?
mdoogle
Obama is not a subject in this investigation.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:02 pmVery soon there will be people calling for his impeachment, even before he takes office. These are the same folks who have been busy with the “Bill-Ayers-gate,” “Wright-gate,” “Obama-is-not-a-citizen-gate,” and now the “blago-gate.” I wonder where are these idiots in the last eight years who have not had the guts to investigate the real “gates” of the current administration. It is obvious that Obama is not guilty or even remotely guilty of anything. Yet, the idiots are so busy pushing their non-news, non-gates junk. Get a life.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:05 pmOh well, now, you know, Obama and Blago — both from Illinois, both men, both Democrats, both married, both have names that start with “B”…
Crap! Ain’t that enough for you??
HE’S GUILTY!!!
/snark
December 10th, 2008 at 4:22 pmRe #12…see what I mean?
December 10th, 2008 at 4:24 pmJohn Kerry troll = racist.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pmThis is getting to be laughable.
Obama runs a meticulous campaign for the last two years (perhaps the most disciplined and well organized in history), wins the presidency (something he has prepared himself for for who knows how many years) and now he throws it all away by playing corrupt games with a politician known to be toxic and under investigation for years?
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:35 pmDavid Axelrod works feverishly to put a firewall between Blag and his bosses. David may end up on the wrong side of the fire.
As for sports teams, it’s often the failure of a teammate that ruins the play and loses the game.
Americans hate “pay for play” as much as they detest bailouts for rich CEO’s. This fire has legs.
I don’t think it will touch Obama, but it will make a number of blue politicians crisp.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pmThe heat is on Axelrod:
David Axelrod Endorsed Trading Jobs for Political Favors in 2005 Op-Ed
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2008/12/10/david-axelrod-endorsed-trading-jobs-for-political-favors-in-2005/
December 10th, 2008 at 4:47 pmJohn Kerry-troll
Gonna need a link to that, you trashy white piece of shit.
December 10th, 2008 at 4:55 pmI don’t know about Axelrod’s comments, but the local station’s report is contradicted by Blagojevich’s comments a day later, and I don’t see what incentive the man would have to lie about NOT talking to the President-Elect; having a private chat with someone of that stature and bragging about it seems to fit right in with his narcissistic personality.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1264113,CST-NWS-succeed06.article
December 10th, 2008 at 5:05 pmPresident-Elect Obama stated he has nothing to do with any pay scheme and I believe him 100%.
jk, this is just the shit you like to waddle in.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:12 pmI wish TP woud put a bullet in the racist John Kerry’s IP address. The POS has NEVER contributed anything worthwhile to a debate. Sure we can ignore the puke, but why should we have to?
December 10th, 2008 at 5:14 pmThat was outstanding publishing of an unqualified denial, contrary to published reports TP.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:14 pmWas there an official handover ceremony when TP took the reigns as official stenographer from RedState ?
No, he’s denied talking to the Gov about the replacement for his own seat, something which a chief adviser for him says happened.
As someone else here said repeatedly, it would be surprising if that didn’t occur.
December 10th, 2008 at 8:25 pm