More and more every day, I am beginning to realize that the business of politics really is a nasty business. It seems that no one is exempt, all the way from the highest office in the land to the bottom rung of the political ladder. If you are wondering what I am referring to, do the names Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff ring a bell? By themselves, maybe not, but put them together with President Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Bill Clinton, and a myriad of other Democratic politicians and you have the makings of political quicksand.
Joe Sestak, as many of you may know, is the challenger who defeated Arlen
Specter in the Democratic primary on May 18 of this year. During the hard-fought primary election, Sestak made the statement that he was offered a job by the Obama administration, possibly Secretary of the Navy (Sestak is a former admiral). This job, incidentally, would have required him to remove himself from the primary and thus clear the way for Specter to continue his run as Pennsylvania’s senior Senator.
At first, the White House hotly denied Sestak’s allegations, saying no such thing took place, but after a few days, information became available that made it clear that something was afoot. It was revealed that former President Bill Clinton was dispatched by the White House to speak to Sestak about the job. As more and more information is released, we now know that the job was an unpaid job, but it would have still required Sestak to drop out of the primary.
From Pennsylvania, let’s move westward to Colorado and the case of Andrew Romanoff and Michael Bennet. Again, we have a case of a preferred candidate (Bennet is currently a Senator from Colorado) and a primary challenger, in the form of Democrat Andrew Romanoff. As far back as last fall, rumors abounded that Romanoff was offered a job by the Obama administration, which would have required him to give up his primary challenger to Bennet. Last week, Romanoff admitted that he was in fact, offered three different jobs in the administration and the White House is now admitting that these allegations are true.
As you can imagine, the Republicans are crying foul and are demanding a special investigation into the way the Obama administration is managing it’s affairs. I admit, this story seems to be getting bigger every day, with more and more evidence being released. Personally, I am inclined to believe this is the kind of political wrangling that goes on behind the scenes of our government and that Republicans and Democrats are both guilty. I haven’t had time to do a lot of research, but if I were a gambling man, I would wager evidence could be found that would incriminate some Republicans in just such a manner.
Where I have a major problem with President Obama is some of his promises he made while running for the office he now holds. He made it very clear that if elected, his administration would not be business and politics as usual. He promised an openness and transparency that would allow the American citizen to see just how their government was working and what it was doing. So far, that has not worked out for him, or so it seems to me.
We have to remember where Obama learned his political skills. Can anyone say Chicago? Can you show me a city and a political environment that has a worse record for political wrangling and corruption? From everything I have seen and heard about Chicago, it’s reputation for roughshod politics is well deserved. Couple that with the man who is running the Obama White House, Rahm Emanuel and you have a political environment that rivals that of Chicago. After all, some of the same players are involved and their stripes have not changed. How can we expect the current administration to be anything but politics as usual, no matter what promises they have made.
Larry,
Looking “behind the curtain” is always uncomfortable for most of us when it comes to political manuevering. And I agree with you that Obama may well be in trouble for his seemingly narrow definition of “politics as usual”.
But I also also think that it’s not unusual for the head of a party to want to mitigate expensive, contested primaires that could weaken the party’s chances in the general election, and not at all unusual for a sitting President to prefer the candidate who would swing most solidly for his agenda. As I watch this unfold, I have two thoughts:
1. There are two sides to a dirty coin, and I wonder whether or not, if Sestak’s dream job offer had come, we would have ever heard about this. Does he really want to be elected or is he mainly bitter that he wasn’t appointed?
2. Romanoff had applied for a few government jobs prior to announcing his candiacy. He lobbied for the possibility of being appointed Secretary of State in Colorado. He also lobbied to be appointed to the Senate position he nows seeks in open election after Ken Salazar stepped into the Obama administration.
This man obviously hungers for a government/political position, and hasn’t been too focused or discriminatory about which it is. I don’t find it shocking, then, that exploratory chats would have been opened with a man who had already expressed keen interest in government jobs. Why not, if it avoids an expensive intraparty fight?
I also think, in Romanoff’s case, that we should consider his statement. Yep, he admits he got an email confirming three open postitions that may be available to him, should he choose not to run. But, in Romanoff’s own words, Messina seems to have not crossed a line:
Romanoff says that Messina’semail clearly stated was that “he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions. At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina’s assistance in obtaining one. After getting the e-mail with the job descriptions, I left him a voice mail informing him that I would not change course. I have not spoken with Mr. Messina, nor have I discussed this matter with anyone else in the White House, since then.”
Sounds like much ado about nothing to me. But it is 47 days before and election, so it doesn’t surprise me that some are trying to make political hay with it.
Laurie,
I have no doubt that this kind of thing goes on behind the scenes with the GOP as well.
Agreed. I think this isn’t so much the domain of any one party but a part of politics in general.
Of Obama, and other politician who campaigns on cleaning up Washington, do you think it’s possible for anyone to deliver that? Remember Senator McCain, who governed conservatively yet deserved the moniker “Maverick”? As soon as “rubber hit the road” during the 08 election,though, he tried to become all things to all people and I think that sealed his fate.
So-is any one man/woman big enough to change “politics as usual”? My answer scares me a bit, in that I think it’s a resounding “no”. I honestly believe that candidate Obama honestly believed he could change things. President Obama, I think, has learned something entirely different.
I have been a loud critic of the Tea Partiers, mostly because they’re all over the map on most issues, have no real positions, and have been far too happy to have the most extreme voices be their loudest introduction. But perhaps a massive movement of Americans who simply say “enough is enough” is what it takes for all parties to stop representing their election chances and start representing us.
I think the 2010 elections will bring a few who embrace the Tea Party in principle (at least) to the electoral table. The real test will be to see if they bend Washington or if DC bends them.
Great post Larry! I have been covering the Sestak and Romanoff stories quite a bit. Like you, at first I didn’t think there was anything unusual about the story because I felt that this type of thing goes on all the time, my original angle was that while this may not be unusual, Barack Obama promised to change the way Washington did business. This was a clear violation of one of his main campaign promises. But after reading more about this story, it has become clear that this could actually be a federal crime and it isn’t very often that people admit to being involved in this type of criminal activity. Here we have two people that have implicated the Obama administration and I feel that because of this the stories must be investigated.
I agree with Steve.
I am a republican to the core but There is NO WAY this is just the democrats, politics is politics no matter what party you belong too!