Governor Blagojevich was arrested.
Then PE Obama said:
"Obviously like the rest of the people of Illinois I am saddened and sobered by the news that came out of the US attorney's office today... I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening."
Then the press remembered what Obama's spokesman David Axelrod had said back on November 23:
"I know he's talked to the governor and there are a whole range of names many of which have surfaced, and I think he has a fondness for a lot of them."
Then the Obama people threw Axelrod under the bus:
An Obama aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, took back David Axelrod's remark last month that Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich had spoken recently.
"What the president-elect said today is correct, David Axelrod misspoke," the aide said.
Obama said today the men had not spoken.
BUT, news reports for the day after the election, November 5th, said this:
Now that Barack Obama will be moving to the White House, his seat in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois will have to be filled.
That's one of Obama's first priorities today.
He's meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich this afternoon in Chicago to discuss it.
Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement
***UPDATE***And news reports from the same source confirmed on November 8 that the meeting had in fact taken place:
Obama met with Governor Rod Blagojevich earlier this week to discuss it. Illinois law states that the governor chooses that replacement. There's already been speculation about his selection...from Congressman Jesse Jackson, Junior to Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth.
The governor's own web site confirmed the discussions:
***UPDATE*** Now it appears that the anonymous candidate #5 who thought he could make $1 million materialize in order to become the winning bidder for Obama's vacant seat turns out to be none other than Jesse Jackson Jr.!
Golly, and just when America thought it had a president we could believe in.
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