I think, frankly, that Obama may be creating a problem when thre could possibly not be one. At this point, I am perfectly willing to believe that neither Obama nor his team offered money for their pick to get the Senate seat. But I do NOT believe that the Obama team did not communicate any preference to Blago, especially given the fact that the Senate is teetering on the brink of a filibuster-proof majority.
I also don’t believe Axelrod misspoke, or that the local news outlet was making up stories out of whole cloth, when they said there was a meeting or other communication between Obama and Blago on this issue.
Obama’s denial of having any communications on this issue strains credulity and raises many more questions than it answers. If he did have discussions and input, but but no money was ever offered, why not just say that? Or maybe Blago raised the issue of money - however indirectly or obliquely - and Obam though it was easier merely deny any contact than to open the door to further questions about the nature of any discusions.
Anyway, it appears that we may be back to the Clinton years of parsing words.
That’s EXACTLY how I’ve seen all of this. Couldn’t write it better myself. I also believe that this is going to put the MSM on notice that this man LIES any time he’s on the hot seat. That may make them more hesitant to follow him blindly as their Messiah.
Wow, he just did. He is going to check with his staff and see if they had any contact with the governor and will get back to us in a few days.
Is a Day the same as a Thousand Years to him?
Well said — also, I find it more than a bit odd that Valerie Jarrett’s name was prominently in the running for a week after the election, and THEN she announced she was withdrawing from consideration. Didn’t say it as though she had never been in contention, IIRC, but rather withdrew from the process.
This is speculation but I imagine that here had been discussions that week between Obama’s team and Blago’s team, with Valerie Jarrett as Obama’s preferred candidate. Then, when Obama’s people either refused to bid or did not bid high enough, VJ decided that it was better to take a spot in the White House. But if she had ALWAYS preferred to be a senior adviser to Obama in the WH, why not say that from the beginning?
Again, just my hunches, but I think there were discussions in the first week and then for whatever reason(s) VJ decided that Blago was being unreasonable etc.
OR, maybe Obama’s team got a tip-off about the wiretaps and decided to try to clean up the situation fast!!
Why would Valerie Jarrett withdraw entirely unless she thought she could not get the Senate seat and/or the process was too risky or costly, etc.
Blago will rat on everyone as he will not like being called “crazy”.