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Fox News is now reporting that Obama wants Hot Rod to resign. A little late, huh?

But, what about the Service Employees International Union and the Barack Obama connection?

An SEIU Official Acted As “An Apparent Intermediary Between The Governor And Barack Obama’s Camp.” “Among the revelations contained in the complaint brought against Illinois Gov.  Rod Blagojevich yesterday was the description of an official with the Service Employees International Union acting as an apparent intermediary between the governor and Barack Obama’s camp in discussions over Obama’s Senate seat.” (Alec MacGillis, “Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team,” The Washington Post, 12/10/08)

• Negotiations Were Underway To Appoint Obama’s Close Confidante Valerie Jarrett To His Vacant Senate Seat. “Blagojevich and his chief of staff wondered aloud about a ‘three-way deal’ in which he would appoint Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett, a Chicago businesswoman believed to be the woman identified in the complaint as ‘Candidate 1,’ to Obama’s Senate seat…” (Alec MacGillis, “Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team,” The Washington Post, 12/10/08)

Blagojevich Believed That The SEIU Official Was An Emissary From Obama To Discuss Jarrett For The Senate Seat. “The complaint also states that on Nov. 12, Blagojevich spoke by phone with an “SEIU official” who was in Washington and with whom Blagojevich had met a week before on the understanding that the official was an emissary to discuss Jarrett’s interest in the Senate seat.” (Alec MacGillis, “Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team,” The Washington Post, 12/10/08)

And, there is more:

Obama Picked A Former SEIU Official To Be His Political Director And Has Close Ties To SEIU Officials In Illinois:

“A Former SEIU Official, Patrick Gaspard, Was Named Obama’s Political Director.” (Alec MacGillis, “Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team,” The Washington Post, 12/10/08)

• In 2004, Patrick Gaspard Served As National Field Director For 527 Organization America Coming Together. “The Kerry effort will be aided by America Coming Together, an independent group working to get out the Democratic vote. The group plans to stage marches before Election Day to polling stations that open early in key states to put ‘peer and community pressure’ on low-propensity voters, said Patrick Gaspard, the group’s national field director.” (Jo Becker, “Voters May Have Their Say Before Election Day,” The Washington Post, 8/26/04)

• The SEIU Helped To Coordinate America Coming Together, With SEIU Members And Staff Doing Much Of The Management Of The GOTV Effort. “Despite Stern’s criticism of labor’s relationship with the Democratic Party, he does understand the importance of political work. Last fall, SEIU generously lent its clout, helping to coordinate America Coming Together and America Votes, an alliance of Democratic interest groups that included the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and women’s organizations. Much of the management of this joint get-out-the-vote effort was done by SEIU members and staff (like me) in a massive union campaign effort without recent precedent.” (Clayton Nall, “Gompers’s Ghost And Labor’s New Look,” The Washingt on Post, 9/4/05)

Tom Balanoff, Head Of SEIU In Illinois, Is Obama’s Closest Tie To SEIU. “But the SEIU official with the closest ties to the Obama team is Tom Balanoff, head of SEIU’s Illinois chapter.” (Alec MacGillis, “Union Official Allegedly Liaison Between Governor, Obama Team,” The Washington Post, 12/10/08)

The stonewalling by Barack Obama is not going to play here. There WILL be staff resignations because it is very likely somebody is on tape talking to Blagojevich or his staff about the Senate seat.

Who will be the first body thrown over the side for Team Obama? Who will take the fall?

Ok, now Obama’s staff is saying that David Axelrod misspoke about Obama talking to the Governor Blagojevich but what about Obama’s staff?

Obama leaves this question open with an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Q: Have you ever spoken to [Illinois] Gov. [Rod R.] Blagojevich about the Senate seat?

O: I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time. My strong belief is that it needed to be filled by somebody who is going to represent the people of Illinois and fight for them. And beyond that, I was focused on the transition.

Q: And that was before and after the election?

O: Yes.

Q: Are you aware of any conversations between Blagojevich or [chief of staff] John Harris and any of your top aides, including Rahm [Emanuel]?

O: Let me stop you there because . . . it’s an ongoing… …investigation. I think it would be inappropriate for me to, you know, remark on the situation beyond the facts that I know. And that’s the fact that I didn’t discuss this issue with the governor at all.

Q: Could you talk to the point of whether an appointment by Gov. Blagojevich would taint whoever your successor would be, given what we know?

O: I think what the people of Illinois deserve is somebody they can trust, somebody that’s going to fight for them and, you know, I think we’ve got to make sure that whatever process emerges gives them that assurance. I haven’t examined all the options that are out there at this point.

Jim Geraghty points out that Obama knows about the scandal and did NOT speak directly to Hot Rod Blagojevich. But, what about his other staffers? How about Obama’s soon to be Chief of Staff and former Illinios Congressman Rahm Emanuel?

And, who does United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald have on tape? What did they say and when did they say it?

Update:

Maybe it was Axelrod since he does not seem to have a problem with pay to play Chicago style.

“The democratic process is often messy,” Axelrod wrote in the op-ed. “Diverse constituencies fight fiercely for their priorities. Their elected representatives use the influence they have to meet those needs, including sometimes the exchange of favors – consideration for jobs being just one.

“When a congressman responds to the president’s request for support for a judicial nominee or a trade deal by replying that he’d like the president’s backing for a new bridge in his district, he’s fighting for his constituents. If the money for that bridge is approved over a worthier project elsewhere, should the deal between the two officials become a crime?” Axelrod wondered, questioning whether a “system free of political influence … is really desirable.”

• Who Lied, Obama or Axelrod?
  If Obama and Blagojevich talked by phone, the FBI might have an audio recording of that.
  (tags: barack_obama Rod_Blagojevich)
• Obama's Web presence loses its luster
  Viewership for President-elect Barack Obama's weekly YouTube "fireside chats" has tanked, dropping more than 50 percent since his initial video three weeks ago.

  "I've heard a lot of puffed-up rhetoric about how this is going to change the face of politics and how it's going to be FDR's fireside chats. The data doesn't back it up," said David Burch, marketing manager for TubeMogul, which tracks YouTube video views.
  +++++++
  Governance is not a campaign.

  (tags: barack_obama)
• 53% Oppose Government Loans to Automakers – Only 28% Support
  Even as the White House and Congress put the finishing touches on a $15 billion rescue package for the Big Three automakers, 53% of U.S. voters say they oppose taxpayer-funded loans to help keep General Motors, Ford and Chrysler in business.

  Twenty-eight percent (28%) of voters support loans for the automakers, and 19% are undecided, according to a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken Saturday and Sunday nights.

  Fifty-four percent (54%) of investors oppose the loans, while 29% favor them. The numbers are nearly identical for non-investors.

  (tags: bailout)
• FBI asked questions on Rezko land deal
  A former Illinois real estate specialist says FBI agents have questioned him about a Chicago property that had been bought by convicted felon Tony Rezko's wife and later sold to the couple's next-door neighbor, Sen. Barack Obama.

  The real estate specialist, Kenneth J. Conner, said bank officials replaced an appraisal review he prepared on the property and FBI agents were investigating in late 2007 whether the Rezko-Obama deal was proper.

  “Agents and I talked about payoff, bribe, kickback for a long time, though it took them only a short number of minutes of talking with me while looking at the appraisal to acknowledge what they already seemed to know: The Rezko lot was grossly overvalued,” Mr. Conner told The Washington Times Monday.

  (tags: barack_obama)
• Obama Senate Seat For Sale?
  The criminal complaint filed today against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich contains a remarkable section detailing the Democratic politician's alleged attempt to cash in on his ability to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Attached to the U.S. District Court complaint is an FBI affidavit, excerpted below, alleging that Blagojevich was caught on wiretaps noting that the Senate seat "is a fucking valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing." He was also recorded saying that unless "I get something real good," he would appoint himself to the vacancy. "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain. You hear what I'm saying. And if I don't get what I want and I'm not satisfied with it, then I'll just take the Senate seat myself." According to the surreptitiously recorded conversations,
  (tags: barack_obama Rod_Blagojevich)
• Blagojevich's Senate Selection Process Investigated
  A three-year federal corruption investigation of pay-to-play politics in Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration has expanded to include his impending selection of a new U.S. senator to succeed President-elect Barack Obama, the Tribune has learned.

  Federal authorities got approval from a judge before the November general election to secretly record the governor, sources told the Tribune, and among their concerns was whether the selection process might be tainted. That possibility has become a focus in an intensifying investigation that has included recordings of the governor and the cooperation of one of his closest friends.

  (tags: barack_obama Rod_Blagojevich)
• Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody
  A source said today that Gov. Rod Blagojevich was taken into federal custody at his North Side home this morning. The U.S. attorney's office would not confirm the information.

  A Blagojevich spokesman said he was unaware of the development. "Haven't heard anything — you are first to call," Lucio Guerrero said in an e-mail.

  The stunning, early morning visit by authorities to the governor's North Side home came amid revelations that federal investigators had recorded the governor with the cooperation of a longtime confidant and had begun to focus on the possibility that the process of choosing a Senate successor to President-elect Barack Obama could be tainted by pay-to-play politics.

  (tags: barack_obama Rod_Blagoievich)