Obama, Blagojevich, and the RNC

Yesterday, electoral college electors from across the nation made history as they convened to officially name Barack Obama winner of the November 4th election, and declare him the next president of the United States. This morning, President-Elect Obama, who appears determined to hit the ground running on January 20th in the midst of the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression, announced yet another appointment to his cabinet.

Meanwhile, Republican National Committee leadership seem to have forgotten the 2008 presidential election is over. The RNC is running a misleading anti-Obama attack ad that clearly attempts to implicate Obama in the Blagojevich pay-to-play senate appointment scandal.

And top Republican party officials haven't stopped there.

The official GOP.com blog posted a piece yesterday attempting to link Obama to Blagojevich, saying "Over the weekend, and indeed today, political news across the nation has continued to center on the scandal involving Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and contact that President-elect Barack Obama's team may or may not have had with him."

However, the post itself, by RNC Online Communications Director Liz Mair, links a Wall Street Journal article, about communications between Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Blagojevich's office, that has as its subtitle the words: "After Election, Obama Team Relayed List of Acceptable Candidates; No Evidence There Was Any Illegal Quid Pro Quo," and goes on to note that Rahm Emanuel reportedly never spoke directly to Blagojevich about Obama's senate seat, that his only contact with Blagojevich's staff was to relay a list of candidates Obama considered well-qualified for the appointment, and that there is no evidence of any illegal conduct by Emanuel or any other member of Obama's staff.

The Illinois Republican Party created a website, FriendsofBlago.com, that uses the term "Blagojevich Democrats" to refer to Democratic politicians from Illinois including Lt. Governor Pat Quinn, who in fact openly opposes the Governor, once called for a recall election to depose him, and reportedly hasn't actually spoken to Blagojevich in over a year. The site features an ominous spiderweb graphic with a photo of Blagojevich in the center, and asks "Who's Next?" implying that any Democrat associated with the state (including, one might easily imagine, Barack Obama) could have been involved in the Blagojevich's illegal pay-to-play schemes.   

All this, despite the fact that Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, currently spearheading the Blagojevich investigation, made clear in a press conference that the criminal complaint against Blagojevich in no way implicates Obama, or anyone on Obama's staff. All this despite the fact that reporters who have been following Obama closely over the past few years note that he began to distance himself from Blagojevich months ago, and notably denied the Illinois Governor a speaking gig at the Democratic National Convention in August.

All this, despite the fact that Blagojevich himself is on wiretap record as saying of Obama and his staff, and I quote: "They’re not willing to give me anything except appreciation. Fuck them."

In reality, the records released thus far by federal prosecutors reveal nothing implicating Barack Obama in Blagojevich's attempt to sell Obama's senate seat for cash or favors, and in fact appear to clearly indicate that Blagojevich himself did not believe Obama would be willing to participate in his illegal scheme.

Yet the RNC continues to try link Obama to the Blagojevich scandal, apparently attempting to cast a shadow of corruption on Obama's administration before it even begins.

Will it work?

Let's review some very recent history.

During the 2008 election, Republicans aired televsion ads mocking Barack Obama, an accomplished Senator with an an impressive resume and an Ivy League education, as a vacuous celebrity. Republicans ads compared Obama's supporters to cult worshippers, misrepresented Obama's tax plans, and took Obama's own running mate's words praising Obama's readiness for office out of context, twisting them to imply that Biden felt Obama wasn't ready to lead. One McCain campaign ad went so far as to attack Obama for helping to pass a law designed to help schools teach children how to protect themselves from pedophiles. 

McCain campaign surrogates made the cable news network rounds, casting vague aspersions on Obama's character with guilt-by-association smears attempting to connect him with the misdeeds of other prominent players on the Chicago political scene, like Tony Rezko. Sarah Palin publicly accused Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" simply because Obama had once served on a charitable board (funded by a famous Republican philanthropist) with a man who had been involved with illegal Vietnam war protests decades earlier, when Obama himself was only eight years old. 

NONE OF THIS WORKED.

After an incredibly contentious election season, during which public opinion polls showed increasing voter disapproval of negative and misleading campaign ads, coupled with a widespread perception that the McCain campaign's tactics were more negative than Obama's, the Republican candidate lost the presidential election in an electoral college landslide.

If the RNC learned anything from November 4th, it ought to have been that we, the American public, are just as fed up with misleading negative ads and pointless partisan bickering as we are with government mismanagement and corruption.

Our economy is crashing down around us. Our nation's transportation infrastructure is crumbling. Our environment is in crisis. Our health care system is on life support, and our education system falls further behind other industrialized countries each year. The threat of terrorism remains constant, as the recent tragedy in Mumbai reminds us. And, oh yes: we are fighting two wars, one of which was begun on false pretenses pushed on the American people by a group of government leaders whose schemes make Rod Blagojevich look like a rank amateur.

Perhaps its a sign of just how exceptional these times are that I find myself agreeing with Newt Gingrich, who wrote in a letter to RNC Chairman Mike Duncan on Tuesday:

I was saddened to learn that at a time of national trial, when a president-elect is preparing to take office in the midst of the worst financial crisis in over seventy years, that the Republican National Committee is engaged in the sort of negative, attack politics that the voters rejected in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles [. . .]

In a time when America is facing real challenges, Republicans should be working to help the incoming President succeed in meeting them, regardless of his Party.

Jaelithe also writes at The State of Discontent.

Comments

[Miranda]

Funny how these are the people who said, a few years ago, that anyone who disagrees with the president in a time of trouble is a traitor...

[Amy@UWM]

Scary when Newt Gingrich is the voice of reason.

[TINYMARIE]

This Country has been in Crisis since September 11th, and the Democrats are just now concerned about Unity? Shame Shame!

It seem's like just a few posts ago many delighted in our President being attacked by the shoe thrower.

I didn't vote for Mr Obama, but I pray he succeeds. I'll support him, because it is the right thing to do. I wasn't on his team, but now (as an American) I'm part of it.

Maybe , we would have been better off today if we had stuck together after September 11th...I'm sure the terrorists delighted in our division.

[jaelithe]

TinyMarie, liberals criticize Bush because he lead our country to war on false pretenses, spied on American citizens without a warrant, directed his cronies to out a working CIA agent (which is an act of high treason), and authorized unlawful detention and torture, NOT just of "enemy combatants" captured on the battlefield, but also of American citizens and CHILDREN. (If you don't believe there have been children held at Guantanamo, look it up. There have been many.)

I criticize Bush because I am a patriot, and George W. Bush has committed treason against our nation, and repeatedly violated our most sacred document, the U.S. Constitution. There is a point past which the need to rescue my country from its own leader's mistakes must outweigh my loyalty, as a patriot, to his office.

Please tell me how President-Elect Obama having his chief of staff call an aide in the office of his the sitting governor of his state to send over a list of qualified candidates for his vacant Senate seat-- a perfectly legal, rational, and routine procedure-- compares in any way. Please do.

As for your comments on 9/11, I agree: we SHOULD have stayed united. We should have stayed united with the rest of the sane world, who mourned our loss with us and wanted to help us, instead of launching an insane unilateral military action that the rest of the world opposed, not because they didn't want to help us fight terror, but because what we were doing was WRONG and would not stop terrorists from hurting people.

[TINYMARIE]

For 25 years I've nursed World War II vets. Many of them dying from COPD, brought about by free cigarettes. World War II produced a host of errors and mistakes, but the overall outcome was good. We united and didn't second guess every step our military leaders took. We were attacked on 9/11 by people who HATE all Americans. This hatred was unjustified .Peace could not prevail over the deep hatred our enemy has for us. If our enemies could have attacked us again, they would have. If they could have annihilated an entire City, they would have. You can thank George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Joe Bidden, Joe Lieberman, and a host of others for our safety today. Big mistakes were made, but we are safe today. Maybe water boarding helped save your butt, you'll never know. I'd let someone water board me, if it would save my family and friends. We did not torture Children under George Bush's orders.

As for President-Elect Obama, I bet he is clean ( for the most part). He is probably as clean as one can be in politics. Blagojevic is Dirty! I pray President-Elect Obama is clean. Let's give him the benefit of doubt, and not go on a witch hunt! It's a shame many Democrats spent the last eight years hunting.

Again, I didn't vote for President-Elect Obama, but I'm praying for his success! I won't trash him like they did President Bush. I won't rejoice when he slips, and he will. I want him to succeed.

[Houseonahill]

SO well written and on point! What a great view point, coming from the state in question, I can confirm that many faulted Obama because he was not in any of the usual political clicks. He really did ride around his own way, and now it can be an assessment of his leadership. He can accurately manuever around the fray and still be effective and get the job done.

[Gunfighter]

The Republicans are just feeling bad because of the serious beating they took in November. Let them whine, their whining is part of why they lost.