Pssst . . . Wanna Buy a Senate Seat?

"Saddened and sobered"--that was Barack Obama's first response to the corruption charges against Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, charges that include an attempt to sell Obama's old Senate seat to the highest bidder.
"Obviously, like the rest of the people of Illinois, I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the U.S. attorney's office today," Obama said before a meeting on energy with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and former Vice President Al Gore.

Wrong emotion. If someone had taken a poll of the rest of the people of Illinois that day I'd guess very few of them would have offered "saddened" in response to a question on their feeling about Blagojevich's efforts to make money on just about everything that happened in Illinois over the past six years.

Outraged? Certainly. Disgusted? Sure. Entertained? Yep. F--ing sick of this s-- from these a--holes? If you're Rod Blagojevich.

But "saddened" is the kind of reaction you have if a friend loses a spouse or if someone you trust lets you down. It's not the kind of reaction you have if you've run a campaign for a politician only to have him embarrass himself in wiretaps from a federal investigation into his six-year orgy of corruption.

In an interview before the election, Obama's newly named White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, suggested that the president-elect did have such a relationship with Blagojevich.

Ryan Lizza wrote in the New Yorker:

Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama's, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich's victory. He and Obama "participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor," Emanuel said. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two."

Wilhelm would later say that Emanuel had overstated Obama's role. And by most accounts Obama and Blagojevich were not terribly close (and not close at all after the public learned that Blagojevich's administration was the subject of a federal investigation). Blagojevich was conspicuously absent from Obama's victory celebration in Grant Park on Election Night, and he had no speaking role at the Democratic National Convention. One Illinois political insider said that while some donor sharing was natural given that both men were rising stars in the Democratic party, he was surprised that there wasn't more overlap.

Blagojevich was elected in 2002 and, according to the 76-page affidavit released by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald last week, almost immediately began a "pay-to-play" scheme that aggressively solicited campaign donations from those who wanted to do business with the state and denied state business to those who refused to participate. Even by the standards of a state known for its dirty politics, the audacity of Blagojevich's corruption was breathtaking. He tried to have editorial board members of the Chicago Tribune fired for criticizing him. He traded seats on important state boards and commissions for campaign cash.

Most egregiously, though, Blagoje-vich tried to sell Obama's Senate seat. In one taped conversation he declared the Senate seat "a f--g valuable thing," adding, "You just don't give it away for nothing." Blagojevich believed that Obama wanted Valerie Jarrett, a longtime friend and confidante of the president-elect, to have the seat, so he schemed to extract goodies from the incoming administration. At one point, Blagojevich mused about being named secretary of health and human services in exchange for appointing Jarrett to the seat. At another, he developed a scheme in which he would take a high-paying job as head of "Change to Win," a union-backed advocacy group.

After the story broke on December 9, reporters quickly focused on a series of events that began five days after Obama was elected. On November 9, CNN reported that Obama wanted Blagojevich to appoint Jarrett to succeed him. WLS, a Chicago talk-radio station, reported the same thing.

But a little more than 24 hours later, CNN reported that Jarrett would not be getting the job. A "top Obama adviser" explained the decision this way. "While [Obama] thinks she would be a good senator, he wants her in the White House."

What happened? According to the affidavit, Blagojevich held a two-hour conference call on November 10 with a large number of advisers. He spoke openly about his desire to get something in exchange for the seat and schemed with his advisers about his best options.