Obama keeps distance from Senate race

President-elect Barack Obama greeted Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich at the National Governors' Meeting last week. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press)

WASHINGTON - Though President-elect Barack Obama isn't accused of anything, the charges against his home-state governor - concerning Obama's former US Senate seat no less - are an unwelcome distraction.

As Obama works to set up his new administration and deal with a national economic crisis, suddenly he also is spending time and attention trying to distance himself from Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and charges that the governor was trying to sell the now-vacant US Senate post.

The president-elect said yesterday he was "saddened and sobered" by the case, but immediately sought to distance himself, saying, "I had no contact with the governor or his office, and so I was not aware of what was happening" concerning any possible dealing about Blagojevich's appointment of a successor.

Republicans, however, were not satisfied with Obama's brief denial of any knowledge.

"The serious nature of the crimes listed by federal prosecutors raises questions about the interaction with Governor Blagojevich, President-elect Obama, and other high-ranking officials who will be working for the future president," said Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the new GOP House whip.

In Chicago, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said prosecutors were making "no allegations" that Obama was aware of any scheming. Blagojevich himself, in taped conversations cited by prosecutors, suggested that Obama wouldn't give him anything even if the governor were to appoint a candidate favored by the Obama team.

The two Illinois politicians have never been especially close and have largely operated in different Democratic Party circles in the state. Blagojevich's disdain for Obama was clear in court documents; he is quoted as calling the president-elect a vulgar term in one phone conversation recorded by the FBI.

Still, the case raises the specter of corrupt Chicago politics, an image Obama has tried to distance himself from. There were signs the continuing investigation could still involve him.

His statement that he didn't have contact with Blagojevich about the Senate seat seemed to conflict with that of top adviser David Axelrod, who told Fox News Chicago on Nov. 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."

Last night, Axelrod issued a statement that he was "mistaken. . . . They did not then or at any time discuss the subject."

It also appears that Obama friend Valerie Jarrett, an incoming senior White House adviser, is the person referred to repeatedly in court documents as "Candidate 1." That individual is described as a female who is "an adviser to the president-elect" and as the person Obama wanted appointed to the Senate seat. Court papers say that "Candidate 1" eventually removed "herself" from consideration for the Senate seat. In a Nov. 11 phone conversation with an aide, Blagojevich talked at length about "Candidate 1" and said he knew that Obama wanted her for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me anything except appreciation."