It's been five days since Pres-Elect Barack Obama called for the resignation of indicted Ilinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and the coiffeured Chicago corruptocrat seems no closer to the door than he did last Wednesday.
The call for resignation came through Obama's spokesperson Robert Gibbs one day after the Blagojevich scandal broke, and one day after Obama stated he was "saddened and sobered" by the news, but declined to go much further:
"The President-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois," Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House press secretary, said.
That same day, Obama also said he had "no contact" with Blagojevich. After that it was revealed that Obama did indeed have some contact with Blago at the governor's meeting in Philadelphia, for which there was photographic evidence. His closest adviser David Axelrod had also told a Chicago TV station in November that Obama was talking to the governor about his replacement, but later said he had "misspoken."
Obama's claim was downgraded Thursday to "I have never spoken to the governor on this subject," as he was widely criticized for mishandling the response to the scandal. By that time, he had settled on an internal investigation of his team, the results of which may be released this week, but asserted he was sure his team was not at all involved.
Today, two sources report that Rahm Emanuel was "dispatched" by the Obama transition team to talk to Blagojevich specifically about Obama's replacement, providing a list of names to Blago advisers:
The Obama associates said the interactions concerned several people who might fill the seat. Such contacts are common among party officials when a political vacancy is to be filled. It was not clear whether the communication was via direct telephone calls.
The Chicago Tribune reported that communications between Mr. Emanuel and the governor, both Democrats, had been captured on court-approved wiretaps, but Obama associates gave conflicting accounts of the interactions.
The Wall Street Journal elaborates:
Among those in Mr. Obama's inner circle, Mr. Emanuel had one of the closest relationships to Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat. He had succeeded Mr. Blagojevich in 2002 to the House seat that covered Chicago's near north side.
Mr. Emanuel didn't talk to Mr. Blagojevich directly about the matter, by phone or in person, according to people familiar with the matter. He spoke by phone with aides to the governor, those people say.
It doesn't sound like such contacts would have been necessarily out of line for Emanuel, but the creeping proximity of Team Obama's white garment hems to Blagojevich's filth is problematic for Obama politically. This scandal is easy to understand, viscerally disgusting, deals with the seat of Obama himself, and runs counter to everything Obama claimed to stand for as a candidate in its utterly old-school, machine-politics grime.
Blagojevich's stubbornness has further complicated matters by casting doubt on Obama's political influence and on the process for naming Obama's predecessor. The Guardian's headline, "Illinois governor ignores Obama's call to resign" can't be pleasing to a fawned-over political figure whose devotees in the press should be in peak fawn right now.
Further, the longer Blago holds on, the greater the chances of a special election to replace Obama, which would give the Illinois GOP at least a crack at a seat that should have been secure. Obama seems to favor a special election, which would necessarily make the process transparent and put him on the side of cleanliness. Other Illinois figures, Sen. Dick Durbin included, have backed the idea of a special election, as the Illinois legislature revs up to do that and impeach Blagojevich.
But Obama's position puts him at odds with most of the Democratic caucus, which prefers a pick made by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn to a special election. The longer Blago dallies, the more unlikely a Quinn pick becomes.
Blagojevich's recalcitrance (say that five times fast) is threatening to spoil Obama's next months, during which the Obama campaign's best messages will take close-range hits from this scandal. Already, his vaunted communications team and reputation for crisis-management have come under fire. His promise of a "new kind of politics" and the mantle of change are increasingly in danger as the investigation continues. Now, his political influence and sway with Congress will face tests even before he's called upon to spend political capital on legislation. Standing back and looking cool with that first-class temperament of his won't fix all of this.
Happy honeymooning, Barack!
