December 18, 2008

Obama Wriggles While Blago Writhes

Writing a column is a humbling experience – a constant reminder of just how much I don’t know. And not knowing about matters should make one much more cautious in pundit-ifying on them. 

Yeah, right.

Nevertheless, let me start by laying out some things I don’t know about indicted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Obama transition team.

I don’t know – and wouldn’t think of pontificating on – whether the president-elect had any contact with the governor regarding his Senate successor, as his spokesman once suggested, or whether he did not, as he has claimed.

I don’t know – and surely shouldn’t dwell on – why it took the Obama gang a week to confirm to the American people that he really, truly had had no contacts with Blago’s people, and whether or why the U.S. Attorney asked him to wait another week to release further details.

I don’t know – and couldn’t imagine bringing up – the nature of Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel’s exchanges with “Hot Rod,” his predecessor in the House of Representatives.

I don’t know – and would be irresponsible to speculate about – what “dirt” the dirty (and filthy-mouthed) governor might have and share with prosecutors on the president-elect or his team.

(Anything else juicy I left out?)

One thing I do know: The Blago affair and its ties to the president-elect and his associates shows how even the best-laid transitions of mice and men can go to H-E-double-hockey-sticks in one short week.

Last week, Barack Obama was (cue theme music) Still the One, herald of a “different kind of politics,” hailed around the world as the heir to Lincoln, FDR and JFK.

This week, he’s a product of America’s most corrupt political machine.

Nine short days ago, the focus was on 44-to-be’s smart positioning, measured words and well-considered, middle-of-the-road appointments.

Now, the buzz is all how his hard-edged future enforcer was pals with a crazy, crooked hack who tried to sell a Senate seat – along with O’s own past ties with a fixer whose name appears dozens of times in the indictment.

Until December 9 around 6 a.m. Central Standard Time, the president-elect was setting the agenda.

Today, he is a captive of an investigation run by a fiercely independent prosecutor (ask “Scooter” Libby), minute-by-minute updates by a media pack in full feeding frenzy – and rampant speculation in the blogosophere and the 24/7 world of cable talking heads.

Where did Sleek Barry slip up?

Well, the suppressed (ha!) cynic in me would say, “Years ago, when he clambered aboard the Daley Machine.” But the steely-eyed crisis communicator might point to a series of cuts that together are oozing a slow, steady drip of media poison.

First of all, the O-Ring left that contradiction regarding potential Obama contacts with Blago hanging out in public for a couple of days. Ain’t nothing the gotcha-guys love more than a contradiction – and no greater credibility-killer coming out of the gate.

Numero dos, for reasons good or bad, the president-elect’s media handlers allowed a “fact vacuum.” Who talked to whom and about what? Who knew what when? Who asked for what and why? Who ordered pizza and what was on it? Everyone knows that the media “beast” abhors a vacuum even more than nature. You’re just asking for every Fox News commentator and his kid sister to ramp the Speculation Machine to warp speed.

And to make it a trifecta, the erstwhile “Yes We Candidate” has stumbled into some just plain nasty luck.  Usually, one of the prescriptions for an ugly fix like this is to change the subject, and the next president has plenty of new material to stuff into each and every news cycle.

Except that Blago, with his ’60s haircut, foul mouth, male-anatomy-busting bluster and, shall we say, “colorful” wife – not to mention the pure, bold audacity of peddling Senate seats – is just too rich and delicious a story from which to distract a deliriously delighted Fourth Estate.

Soon enough, with the advent of a history-making Inaugural Day and the exhilaration of a new team taking hold of the Nation’s Capital, the Land of Lincoln’s mop-haired wheeler-dealer will exit center stage.  But the misadventures of Blago, Rahmbo and Rezko will still provide the discordant background music for those magic first 100 days and well beyond – inflicting untold hurt to O’s “Change You Can Believe In” brand.

So how does the president-elect wriggle out of this one? 

I don’t know. But I’m sure going to enjoy watching him and his cohort try.