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Blagojevich scandal comes as an early test for Obama
President-elect's evolving response highlights working style
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
- Published: 00:20 December 13, 2008
Washington: It took three tries in as many days for President-elect Barack Obama to roll out a strategy for defusing the crisis over Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to put Obama's vacant Senate seat up for sale.
In his initial reaction, Obama said he was "saddened" by the episode, that he hadn't talked about the Senate seat with Blagojevich, and that he wouldn't discuss an ongoing investigation. Day 2, he added his name to the avalanche of public officials calling for Blagojevich's resignation. Yet unanswered questions mounted about which members of his staff may have discussed the Senate seat with Blagojevich.
Finally, in a news conference on Thursday, Obama pledged to ferret out more facts. He also struck an emotional chord that had been absent in his response up to that point. He said he was "appalled" by the scandal and would quickly release all contacts that his staff had with Blagojevich, who is accused of seeking favours from the president-elect in exchange for elevating a favoured candidate to the Senate.
Buying time
Obama's evolving response was the first test of his team's capacity to nimbly cope with a fast-moving political scandal while staying true to his promise to run a transparent shop with a minimum of secrets.
"This may be an early test run for his administration," said Scott McClellan, a former White House press spokesman under President George W. Bush. McClellan is the author of a book that criticised the Bush White House's failure to be forthcoming with the public.
"This is how he might handle a scandal within his own administration, even though this may only tangentially involve members of his team," McClellan said. "Initially, I don't think he quite had his footing. ... Today he certainly had his footing under him and is making the right moves in terms of addressing the scandal."
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said: "The first answer - I don't have any comment on an ongoing investigation - sounded exactly like the comments we've gotten from President Bush. And I don't think that's much of an answer. The answer that he'll [make public] the complete list is finally the right answer."
After basing his campaign for president on a promise to transform Washington, Obama is obliged to set the highest ethical standards, some government watchdog groups say. His transition co-chairman, John Podesta, further raised expectations on this score when he vowed last month to run the most open transition in history.
The complaint filed against Blagojevich shows that he wanted to talk to one of Obama's aides and ask for help raising up to $15 million for a nonprofit group the governor wanted to create.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
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