The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> JOHNSON AND JASON br> When Sen. Barack Obama held a meeting with his economic advisory team, an early draft of attendees approved by the campaign included Jim Johnson , the former CEO of Fannie Mae and a close friend and adviser to Obama. Johnson's name was removed from the list made available to the media, and it is not known if he did in fact call in. /p>

Johnson's name was removed by one of the newer members of the Obama economic team, Jason Furman, who is coordinating economic policy between the campaign and its outside advisers. Furman was put in place by the campaign's chairman, Penny Pritzker, who also recruited almost the entire Obama economic team, which includes Johnson, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and former Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling.

"That Obama would even have Johnson within a mile of his campaign right now is just mind-boggling," says a Democrat political operative informed of the gaffe. "But he prizes loyalty over almost anything else, so it's also not surprising."

p> CHRIS AND BARNEY SHOW br> Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep.

topics:
Barack Obama, Business, Oil