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Obama's Bert Lance

By Robert Stacy McCain on 12.14.08 @ 11:40AM

Liberals are complaining bitterly about press coverage of the Rod Blagojevich scandal. "[T]he media have tried to shoehorn Barack Obama into the Rod Blagojevich scandal," as Jamison Foser of Media Matters put it in a 2,900-word tirade Friday:

Most telling is the tendency of many journalists to speculate that the Blagojevich scandal may ensnare Obama without acknowledging that the complaint against Blagojevich contained absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing by Obama . . .
Associated Press reporter Liz Sidoti set the standard for pointlessly speculative news reports with an "analysis" piece declaring that "President-elect Barack Obama hasn't even stepped into office and already a scandal is threatening to dog him." . . .
We cannot afford to be distracted from serious problems by overheated conjecture and baseless insinuation masquerading as journalism.
That's how the media behaved the last time we had a Democratic president. They devoted wall-to-wall coverage to invented "scandals," ignored exculpatory evidence, saw evidence of guilt everywhere, took people out of context in order to accuse them of lying, and generally behaved like a pack of wild animals who couldn't tell right from wrong or truth from fiction -- or who simply didn't care. As a group, they behaved without ethical standards and without regard for the truth.

Foser is correct that nothing now known indicates wrongdoing on Obama's part. However, the revelation that Obama's choice for chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was in communication with Blagojevich -- sending him a list of potential Senate replacement appointees acceptable to Obama -- undermined Obama's press conference claim that "no representative of mine would have any part in any deals related to this seat."

Foser compares the press coverage to how the Whitewater scandal dogged the Clintons, but a more accurate analogy would be to the scandal that felled Jimmy Carter's OMB director, Bert Lance. A Georgia banker and influential figure in state Democratic Party politics, Lance was forced to resign eight months into the Carter administration by revelations about his financial dealings. Lance was never convicted of any crime, and the scandal involved no suggestion of wrongdoing by Carter, and yet the swirl of accusations damaged -- if it did not entirely destroy -- Carter's image as a squeaky-clean reformer. Perhaps most importantly, the Lance scandal brought an early end to whatever honeymoon Carter had enjoyed with the Washington press corps.

The scolding of Foser and other liberals won't undo the damage that the Blagojevich scandal has already done to Obama, and more damage is likely. The Republican National Committee has issued a Web video aiming to cement in the public mind the idea that Obama (a) is a close ally of Blagojevich, and (b) has been dishonest in his responses to the scandal:

(Cross-posted at The Other McCain.)

View all comments (6) | Leave a comment

Lisa| 12.14.08 @ 12:40PM

"However, the revelation that Obama's choice for chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was in communication with Blagojevich -- sending him a list of potential Senate replacement appointees acceptable to Obama -- undermined Obama's press conference claim that "no representative of mine would have any part in any deals related to this seat."

This sentence does not compute. Rahm giving Blago a list of acceptable names for the Senate seat is perfectly above board and to be expected. Obama's statement that no one on his team would be involved in any "deals" (ie. quid pro quos) does not in any way clash with that. And, in fact, the evidence so far released by the prosecutor backs up Obama's assertion that his team wasn't offering any "deals" (hence, Blago's f-bombs and anger that the Obama people were offering him "nothing but appreciation".

Bob| 12.14.08 @ 2:46PM

RSM, this is another example of how you and others in the extreme right of the Republican party are bringing it down. On one hand, you talk about being principled even if it means not winning. On the other hand, you make unprincipled remarks like this. Make up your minds, are you principled or not? If you were people of principle, you'd do as Brit Hume did this morning and indicate, as Lisa did above, that the evidence does not support your theories. Just having contact does not mean wrongdoing and you know that.

If you want people to recognize you for your principles, then you should act principled. That's why I criticize you guys so much, because your behavior is hypocritical.

There are great things about secular conservative principles. Bob Corker was absolutely right about solving the auto crisis in a principled fashion. We should be supporting actions like that rather than playing politics.

ruth| 12.15.08 @ 12:07AM

Yes, Bob, our bad to point out the 'principled' actions of Blago, Obama and Obama's staff. Yes, it's our fault that Obama springs from a liberal political cesspool. Hate kills, Bob. Didn't your mother or your Rabbi ever tell you that? You should have listened.

ruth| 12.15.08 @ 12:10AM

Lisa, I heard Obama state there was no 'communication' between the two camps; which was obviously a stupid and false thing to say. Something doesn't compute, alright.

james23| 12.15.08 @ 11:23AM

Wow, 'What about Bob' weighs in with Axelrod's talking points in support of Blago and Bomber. Quel surprise!

And Lisa, Obomber did not deny deals, he denied contact. Categorically. And he lied, didn't he? First of many...

back over criticisms | 10.23.09 @ 6:01AM

Isiah Thomas is firing back over criticisms levied by longtime "friend" Magic Johnson in a new book chronicling the new books releases careers of Johnson and Larry Bird, and boy, are things getting ugly. It’s like an episode of "The Hills," except, unfortunately, there’s a lot more leg showing. Shudder.