BARACK OBAMA has distanced himself effectively so far from the political corruption scandal surrounding Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, but the case perfectly illustrates the perils of Illinois and Chicago politics for the reforming president-elect.
Mr Blagojevich, accused of a “political corruption crime spree” by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, was determined to exact a high price for his power to nominate Mr Obama’s successor in the US Senate. Wiretaps on his home and office phones reveal he wanted to negotiate job offers for himself and his wife in return, while the graphic profanities he used brutally express the crude calculations involved. Unless he is rapidly deprived of his right to make the nomination he may go ahead with it, since he remains in office. There are calls for him to resign or be impeached and then for the state congress to make the appointment. Whoever gets it would finish the final two years of Mr Obama’s Senate term, getting a head start on the race for a full seven-year term in 2010.
State politics in Illinois has been a cauldron of corruption and croneyism for many years – as is attested to by the jailing of two of Mr Blagojevich’s immediate predecessors on such charges. Mr Obama says he did not talk to Mr Blagojevich about the appointment, but leaves it open whether his associates did so. Nevertheless his own origins in that political culture made him highly aware of its shortcomings. He was part of the Democratic machine in Chicago and rarely crossed it. Republicans failed to pin any real dirt on him during the campaign despite trying hard. Assuming he comes cleanly through this affair his reputation for probity should be enhanced.
Before that, the affair has some potential to tarnish the gloss shown in an opinion poll yesterday which suggests three-quarters of US voters are happy with Mr Obama’s victory and cabinet appointments and eight out of 10 are satisfied with how he is managing the political transition. Republicans say they are not satisfied that Mr Obama’s team had nothing to do with Mr Blagojevich’s transgressions and they are likely to milk the story for all it is worth.
That means it could run and run, rather like the Clinton Whitewater affair, unless it is swiftly and clearly put to rest. Otherwise it will affect the transition and build up trouble. But from all we know of Mr Obama’s political skill this is unlikely to happen. Having managed to avoid being tainted so far, he should be able to weather this storm.