by Frank James
My first thought on hearing that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had asked President-elect Obama to drop his nomination as Commerce Secretary because of a federal probe into possible pay to play activity in Richardson's office was "Uh-oh, don't tell me Obama has some pay-to-play curse that will be following his presidency like a hungry stray dog."
The scandal involving Gov. Rod Blagojevich in Illinois is, of course, about the governor's alleged pay-to-play activities including the charge in a federal criminal complaint that he sought to auction off Obama's vacant Senate seat. First Illinois, now New Mexico. You're almost afraid to ask what state comes next?
My follow-up thought was that Richardson's move obviously calls into question the quality of the, ahem, "vetting process" that the Obama team conducted. How did Richardson, an old baseball player, ever to first base with a huge problem like this hanging out there?
As it turns out, the Obama people are reportedly saying they asked Richardson's people about the probe but were evidently stone-walled.
That seems like reason enough for Obama to have told Richardson "don't call us, we'll call you." Who would have blamed the president-elect? Even Latino groups would have been hard pressed to defend Richardson, one of their own, under such circumstances.
But something obviously went very wrong because, even with Richardson's people purportedly stiff-arming Obama's vetters, Richardson still was announced as the Commerce nominees.
Politico.com reports that the situation has some Democrats wondering just what went wrong inside the vaunted Obama vetting operation.
Barack Obama's transition team pressed Bill Richardson about a federal probe into "pay to play" allegations against his office - the same investigation Richardson cited Sunday in withdrawing his name as commerce secretary.
But a Democratic source said Obama's questioners came away empty-handed. "Those guys were pressed for information and they gave nothing," the source said.
Now some Democrats are questioning Obama's vetting process --- and asking whether Obama's team went far enough in pushing the New Mexico governor for information in face of the federal grand jury probe that has been public since August.
It's the first high-profile stumble for an Obama transition that generally has run smoothly so far--and it deprives Obama of the highest-ranking Hispanic member of his Cabinet, already prompting cries from Latino groups for a prominent replacement.
Maybe Obama so badly wanted the team-of-rivals script to work that he was willing to overlook the New Mexico play-to-pay investigation. Or maybe Richardson made the probe sound so benign, Obama was willing to try and look past it. Whatever the case, it's clear now that there was a major miscalculation.
So Richardson is gone now. If there's any good news for Obama is that it happened now before the confirmation process started, even before Obama's inauguration, so it will likely quickly become old news with the rush of events.
But that still doesn't solve the issue of the pay-to-play curse that seems to be haunting Obama's pre-presidency. He may need to appoint a White House shaman to get rid of that problem.
Comments
Come on now Frank...lets be honest...this so called "vetting process" sounds like a MSM hype to obscure "real" politics. Richardson's appt. was political payoff for early support and to gain the Hispanic vote in the election... Commerce Sect. was a little low on the ole "totem pole" don't you think...I think Obama rather "bused" him after he got what he wanted...Bill took his toys and went home..."vetting" is a word to placate the uninformed masses...get real...these guys are from Chicago...they "play"...if you ask me Obama was hardly "vetted" by the MSM at all....do your job..."y'know" "for country".
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 5, 2009 8:20 AM
Change you can believe in.
Posted by: Obama Nanny State | January 5, 2009 8:29 AM
The Richardson "pay for play" investigation story broke Dec. 15th. And was reported everywhere (the Obama/DNC Swamp newsletter being the one holdout).
The Obama Team knew full well about Richardson. Everyone knew about this at least 3 weeks ago. There was no vetting failure. They chose, once again (cf Tony Rezko, Rod Blagojevich et al.) to turn a blind eye to corruption in their ranks.
That's the Chicago Democrat way.
Posted by: Bruce | January 5, 2009 9:09 AM
Nice little attempt by the incompetent Frank James to apologize for and cover up for the Obama people. If this involved Republicans, the media would be hootin and hollering. But I love it that good ole Frank says the Obama people were stonewalled by the Richardson people. Give me a break! If the Richardson people "stonewalled" the Obama people, then Obama should not have named Richardson to anything.
The real story, though, is the absolute, complete and utter corruption throughout the Democratic party: Richardson, Blago, Reid, Obama (Rezko and countless other mini scandals), Pelosi, Jefferson, Clintons, Spitzer, Toricelli, and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
Posted by: John D | January 5, 2009 9:16 AM
So a few bad apples show up during this frenzied time of transition and nominations.
For god sake the whole damn Bush Crime Cartel were nothing short of liars, thieves, crooks, con men, pedophiles, infidelities, tax cheats, and treasury robbers just to name a few.
And this went on for 8 long years, and We The People have to listen to (impeachment is off the table)
Leave Obama alone and focus on the real issues that have caused this country to go belly up for the past 8 LONG YEARS of Republican corruption
Give me a break!
Posted by: Sonny | January 5, 2009 9:39 AM
Think the Richardson vetting process was a joke, wait til the Hillary hearings start and the questions are asked about her involvement in getting hundreds of millions of dollars in "contributions" to the Clinton foundation from Arab countries, China and some other highly questionnable nations. Countries that she would be dealing with as SecState. Conflicts of interest? Never ending with the Clintons.
Posted by: Deretha | January 5, 2009 9:50 AM
Well we also have Hillary being involved in a similar situation where she helped a developer get a tax break and lo and behold he makes a 100,000 donation to the Clinton library.
Meet the new boss same as the old boss
Posted by: Paul | January 5, 2009 10:09 AM
Yes, Obama's people are now SAYING it's Richardson's fault -- face-saving, at best.
Obama's people screwed up, plain and simple.
Posted by: Beth | January 5, 2009 11:09 AM
This isn't anything new the same thing happen with Bush and Clinton. I understand that you have to create news in order to keep a job but I don't think anyone cares.
Posted by: Morris | January 5, 2009 11:50 AM
Richardson at this point has done nothing wrong. The Obama team may have thought that the outcome of the Richardson affair would have netted nothing.
In the Blagojevich era it is not only necessary to be guilty of nothing, it is necessary to be not even accused of any wrong doing.
For six weeks Republicans have carped about Obama being guilty of unethical behavior because of Blagojevich. It is the most honest who suffer in times like this because everyone knows a guy like Murtha or Young in Alaska skate on the edge so its the good people who are tarred by the environment.
Posted by: Ron M | January 5, 2009 1:07 PM
"Big Labor spent upwards of $300 million helping elect Barack Obama and increase Democratic majorities in Congress. The labor bosses expect a big-time return on their investment, beginning with passage of the horribly misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) that would abolish the secret ballot in workplace representation elections. Obama promised repeatedly during the 2008 campaign that he would push EFCA, and there have no signals since election day to suggest that he has changed his mind. But EFCA is far from the only favor the union bosses expect from Obama. There is the matter of union corruption and whether the Obama administration will, as the bosses expect, turn a blind eye to it.
No better illustration of the seriousness of the corruption issue is to be found than in the one of the unions that spent the most money and resources on getting Obama elected, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), led by Andy Stern. His union spent at least $16.5 million on behalf of Obama and an estimated $85 million for Democrats in Congress, so it should come as no surprise that the words “corruption” and “SEIU” so often seem to appear together in the media. Among the more prominent SEIU corruption stories during 2008 were these:
* * * * *
* The federal investigation of Illinois’ Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s attempts to peddle a U.S. Senate seat appointment has zeroed in on at least three SEIU officers in Chicago.
* Blagojevich’s biggest single contributor is the SEIU, which contributed nearly $1 million to the governor’s 2006 re-election campaign. In return, Blagojevich has been very good to SEIU, signing legislation that delivered more than 49,000 state child care workers to the union’s Local 880. Guess who runs Local 880? The infamous Association of Community Organizers to Reform Now (ACORN). According to The Heritage Foundation, Local 880’s income tripled from $7 million in 2005 to $21 million in 2007, thanks to Blagojevich’s action."
Can Obama Crack Down On Corrupt Unions? 1/4/09
http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/37059464.html
Posted by: Talk about Pay to Play! | January 5, 2009 1:37 PM
I've been hearing all along that Team Obama is sharp and never fumbles, but this latest stupid blunder certainly belies that hype.
Posted by: MJ | January 5, 2009 2:01 PM
Maybe there's a more practical explanation. When Penny Pritzker withdrew from consideration, the transition team needed to fill the Commerce Sect'y position quickly as part of the Economic Team.
Posted by: Ron | January 5, 2009 2:07 PM
I've been hearing consistently and strongly that any military personnel who even attends the inauguration of this terrorist gangster agent this month will be entered onto an exclusive national traitors branding list. This doesn't surprise anyone, but are there still reports that the military will actually attend the swearing in to some capacity, as is their traditional service to do so. But, them running the terrible and disheartening tragedy of being branded a traitor for their lifetime for their attendance is a hard reality to have to swallow. It's such a terrible and terrifying shame and sorrow that they have to be subjected to such a demeaning, degrading and final event forced upon our nation, our loved ones and our lives, and the lives of our children who will never be as a result of it.
Posted by: Freedom Rising | January 5, 2009 2:07 PM
It's an investigation; Richardson hasn't been charged with anything. Every administration has a few of these blips while putting a cabinet and staff together. The Obama team probably gave Richardson the benefit of the doubt, which they shouldn't do, because he's a good guy to have on your cabinet; very qualified, very knowledgeable. Have some perspective.
Posted by: mort | January 5, 2009 2:08 PM
And what about Eric Holder? The man for whom being a rich, politically connected client is FAR more important than upholding a rule of law that applies to EVERYBODY?
See his incompetence at work with his record of glossing over corruption in DC while prosecutor there.
See his moral ambivalence at work with his defending execs at Chiquita Banana from facing punishment for funding a right-wing terrorist death squad.
Posted by: Tom | January 5, 2009 2:25 PM
Stuff like this is soooo common in Obamaland (Chicago Democrat Machine) that of course, they didn't think much about it.
Give the guy a job for God's sake before he decides to run against me in the next election! this is not change we can believe in. this si Chicago corrupt politics with the Obama name on it now!
Posted by: Springfield | January 5, 2009 2:29 PM
Obama is more sinister and cynical than you give him credit for. He wanted a Hispanic to be named to a top position because Hispanic leaders were criticizing him. Richardson is the most famous Hispanic leader, and that is why he selected him. He did not care about his pay to play schemes. He is use to it. Just look at how Illinois politics have been run. Obama needs the Hispanic vote to help him get re-elected in 2012. Without it, he may not succeed because his socialist tax and spend policies certainly will not help the economy grow.
Posted by: Susan | January 5, 2009 2:50 PM
McSame or O'Same...
It doesn't matter. It's still the Republicrat Party and all the appropriate orfices will be greased as necessary.
Posted by: teammarty | January 5, 2009 2:51 PM
three chin richardson under investigation? once again the ACORN elect obama knows for nothing? appoints three chin richardson anyway? special interest groups are calling for a prominent replacement LUIS CUTIERREZ? the illegal task force general? new jersey mendendez homosexual adoption state amigo's? he is a prominent democrat? florida martinez been loyal democrat? well one thing is for sure obama has both partys to choose a prominent replacement for commerce secertary JOB!!!! that corporate NAFTA team work alive and well in both parties? nafta obama tax break? nothing on trade deficit? tariffs? outsouring of our jobs and industry? obama going to create new jobs? with billions given to foreign and private industry? the ACORN elect obama associations and connections more ILLEGITIMATE than LEGITIMATE? independent AMEN.
Posted by: frank l kinney | January 5, 2009 3:20 PM
wow....interesting comments. What time do the adults come into the Swamp?
Posted by: rupert | January 5, 2009 4:31 PM
Some one needs to vet this comment board so that we don't have to be subjected to this kind of psycho-babble:
"I've been hearing consistently and strongly that any military personnel who even attends the inauguration of this terrorist gangster agent this month will be entered onto an exclusive national traitors branding list. This doesn't surprise anyone, but are there still reports that the military will actually attend the swearing in to some capacity, as is their traditional service to do so. But, them running the terrible and disheartening tragedy of being branded a traitor for their lifetime for their attendance is a hard reality to have to swallow. It's such a terrible and terrifying shame and sorrow that they have to be subjected to such a demeaning, degrading and final event forced upon our nation, our loved ones and our lives, and the lives of our children who will never be as a result of it."
WTF!!!
Posted by: Joshua | January 5, 2009 4:58 PM
Bruce, ONS, MJ & John D....so sad that you all got nothing but scrap like this to freak on. Richardson will be found to be clean on this tiny issue and it will quickly fade. I liked reading your stuff so much more when you all dreamed that your corrupt & incompetent GOP still had a prayer. Your prognostications were hilarious then. Now you just whimper. Take a lesson from "Freedom Rising". Now THAT is the kind of GOP Crazy we enjoy laughing at. "Terrorist Gangster Agent"...now that is the good stuff!
Posted by: FrankK | January 5, 2009 5:02 PM
Its disconcerting when people jump to conclusions. Isn't it possible that something in the Richardson investigation has changed recently, post-vetting? Only the prosecutors, investigators and perhaps Richardson know. And so far, we've only heard from Richardson. Cynics should wait to see the outcome.
Posted by: Mark G | January 5, 2009 5:07 PM
Agree with you Joshua; that's some nonsensical ranting.
Posted by: rupert | January 5, 2009 7:16 PM
"Terrorist gangster," really? Wow, Freedom Rising...way to contribute to rational political discourse.
Posted by: Seriously? | January 5, 2009 7:39 PM
Posted by: FrankK | January 5, 2009 5:02 PM
.
A company contributes to Gov. Richardson's campaign and then gets a lucrative contract with the state of NM; then Richardson gets an appointment in the administration that promises change and a departure from business as usual... and you call that "a tiny issue"?
.
Well OK, but it seems that Obama disagrees with you.
Posted by: MJ | January 5, 2009 8:08 PM
Some of these comments are off the wall...I knew "obama-mania" was contagious but cancerous too.
Posted by: Bubba Porter | January 6, 2009 1:32 AM
Posted by: frank l kinney | January 5, 2009 3:20 PM
Posted by: Freedom Rising | January 5, 2009 2:07 PM
This is why it's important to take your medicine every day. The doctor gives you those pills for a reason.
Posted by: A Public Service Announcement | January 6, 2009 9:46 AM