Ed Rendell is an outspoken PA Governor who is not shy about his views. He follows his pattern in a report this morning from Politico.com.
“They have never been in an executive position before,” Rendell said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The rule of thumb is whatever you did, say it and get it over with and make it a one-day story as opposed to a three-day story. Politicians are always misjudging the intelligence of the American people.”
Known for his blunt critiques of fellow Democrats, Rendell did not hold back during the interview.
The public, said Rendell, understands Obama and his aides would have an interest in who fills the Senate seat, and some contact with the governor’s office — and that Obama should have said as much at the outset.
“Did Rahm Emanuel who took Rod Blagojevich’s seat in Congress have contact with Rod Blagojevich? Of course he did,” Rendell said. “They may have thought he was the craziest S.O.B. in the world. But you still have to have contact with him.”
I wonder if there is any room under that bus for Ed. At least he is saying what many are thinking. I have written here from day one that it seems strange that Obama would not talk to Blagojevich about the Senate seat. No harm in that. So why imply that such talks would be out of bounds?
UPDATE: Emanuel won’t go to work due to death threats. Who would be doing that? Blago’s cronies? I really don’t get that though. Emanuel doesn’t have the secret service nearby? I don’t care if you are an Obama partisan or not, this has to look troubling. We haven’t even had a real crisis yet and Obama’s chief of staff is hiding from the media and won’t go to the office.
UPDATE 2: Blago’s Chief of Staff John Harris resigned today.
UPDATE 3: IL AG Lisa Madigan wants to move Blago from the Governor’s mansion.
Quattro – Jesse Jackson Jr., is defending himself against charges he got the fundraising thing going early.
More confirmation Obama had input via Emanuel.
In an interview, Schakowsky said she spoke to Emanuel on Thursday and he seemed unfazed by the controversy.
Schakowsky also spoke of a conversation she had with Emanuel shortly after he was named chief of staff. She said she called Emanuel “to get some intelligence” on whether Obama might approve of her selection as senator.
“He indicated that the president-elect would be fine with certain people and I was one of them,” Schakowsky said, adding that he did not share the identities of others on the list.
Schakowsky said it was natural for Obama to take an interest in the selection process for his Senate seat. “It makes perfect sense for the president-elect or his people to have some interaction about filling the seat he was vacating,” she said.
Jayhuck,
I have the feeling Barak Obama better “gird up his loins” to face some of the fall out over this. I’m glad he has been absolved of any involvement but I don’t think those other people who are in trouble are going to go down without trying to take him with them – which is a shame. I haven’t paid too much attention to politics since “my guy” didn’t win but I might now because this might get very interesting.
You know – at least all of this is being gotten out of the way before Obama becomes President !!! 🙂
Drowssap –
I agree with Ann, its going to be interesting, but these guys are corrupt and have been for a long time. The people investigating and prosecuting them have ALL exonerated Obama – I know you wish otherwise – LOL – but it just isn’t so 😉
Why hope your government is as corrupt as you fear?
I can’t wait for these guys to rat each other out.
Drowssap,
Bet(cha) that is EXACTLY what is going to happen – get the popcorn ready – it is going to be interesting.
DOH! These guys are all dirty. Why didn’t the prosecutor let the deal go through? Let Jackson get the Senate seat and pay off Blago and then call in the SWAT team. That would mean serious jail time for everyone.
Maybe the mushroom cloud was so big he didn’t have to? I can’t wait for these guys to rat each other out.
Case confirms Rezko is talking with prosecutors
It’s obvious that Obama was getting paid off for something. But what’s just as interesting is that the bank fired the worker who noticed the irregularity. That means the bank management was involved too. This whole thing is going to blow up big and I bet it leads back to organized crime in Chicago. All of these guys are dirty.
Another interesting thing is that Blogo tried to get his wife a high paying job as part of the payoff. Didn’t Obama’s wife make 6 figures at some sort of pretend position at a hospital? “Outreach Director” or some such thing?
This is how politics in Chicago operates. Get to the top of a community or government organization and then trade government jobs, deals and money with each other. What a racket.
It looks like Obama stepped in it.
Rezko is going down, Blago is going down, and now it looks like Emanuel might be going down.
Emanuel’s past behavior indicated he thought of himself as some sort of low level thug, enforcer.
I have a strong suspicion that these guys are involved in organized crime. It isn’t just their “Goodfellas” personal behavior it’s the shady money deals going on all around them. Rezko is talking, Blogo is probably going to start talking, this story could blow up big.