Obama Worked to Distance Self From Blagojevich Early On

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Washington Post

Like every other politician in Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich waited for Barack Obama's call this summer. He told colleagues that he expected a speaking role at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, a nice bit of payback for being the first governor to endorse the senator from Illinois in his campaign for president. By showing off a connection to Obama in Denver, Blagojevich hoped to repair his own diminished reputation.

Obama's campaign made speaking offers to the Illinois treasurer, the comptroller, the attorney general and a Chicago city clerk. Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Ill.) was asked to introduce Obama on the convention's final night; Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (Ill.) was told he would speak on television during prime time. Finally, fed up and embarrassed that he still had heard nothing, Blagojevich joked to a crowd at the Illinois State Fair that, yes, he also had been asked to speak -- at 4 a.m., in a Denver area men's bathroom.

Long before federal prosecutors charged Blagojevich with bribery this week, Obama had worked to distance himself from his home-state governor. The two men have not talked for more than a year, colleagues said, save for a requisite handshake at a funeral or public event. Blagojevich rarely campaigned for Obama and never stumped with him. The governor arrived late at the Democratic convention and skipped Obama's victory-night celebration at Chicago's Grant Park.

Even though they often occupied the same political space -- two young lawyers in Chicago, two power brokers in Springfield, two ambitious men who coveted the presidency -- Obama and Blagojevich never warmed to each other, Illinois politicians said. They sometimes used each other to propel their own careers but privately acted like rivals. Blagojevich considered Obama naive and pretentious and dismissed his success as "good luck." Obama disparaged Blagojevich for what he viewed as his combativeness, his disorganization and his habit of arriving at official events half an hour late.

-----

"Obama saw this coming, and he was very cautious about not having dealings with the governor for quite some time," said Abner Mikva, a former congressman and appeals court judge who was Obama's political mentor in Chicago. "The governor was perhaps the only American public officeholder who didn't speak at the convention, and that wasn't by accident. He's politically poisonous. You don't get through Chicago like Barack Obama did unless you know how to avoid people like that."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/11/AR2008121103936.html?hpid=topnews

[FrenchieCat]

1. Interesting indeed.....

Blagojevich never endorsed Obama in his U.S. Senate bid in 2004, and he expressed a preference for two other Democratic candidates. On the campaign trail, Obama sometimes made a point to highlight his distance from Blagojevich and the rest of the administration. "Nobody sent me," he often told his crowds.

"The governor didn't offer his support, and to be honest, we didn't really ask for it," said Jim Cauley, a Kentucky native whom Obama hired to run his U.S. Senate campaign. "We weren't going to the old hall or chasing the county chairs. We wanted to show we weren't a part of that world."

[Pirate Smile]

2. Front Page of the Wash Post tomorrow - nice.

[FrenchieCat]

3. Still wish that they could have worked in Obama's work on ethics reform there....

While he was there, and just recently.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/politics/10chicago.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all

[Cha]

4. Rec'd~ And, when is the corporatemedia

going to investigate instead of smearing Obama by association?

[Hissyspit]

5. Off to th' Greatest Page for everyone's Friday morning reading.

[firedupdem]

6. Finally! I've been saying for days that anybody with a brain has

steered clear of this toxic man for years now!

[Frank Booth]

7. Woah, where's the love for Blago?

I hope Obama's still considering him for that cabinet position. Before we all pile on Blago, let's not forgot he's still got the senate seat, which is a fucking valuable thing.

Now's not the time to throw the 'Vich under the bus.

[Orsino]

10. My love is fucking golden.

I'm not giving it up for fucking nothing.

[Rhiannon12866]

8. Very interesting. Shows the president-elect has good judgment...

:-)

[Window]

9. K/R.

:kick:

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. If he knows these greedy, arrogant people exist, can he come and

deliver the rest of us from our Chicago, Illinois problems?

[Jennicut]

12. Obama was smart not to get involved closely with Blago, the man is bloodsucking parasite

Obama dissed him at the Convention, Blago must have been deeply jealous of Obama and then tried to sell the seat and pull one over on O.