Obama seen untouched by Illinois governor charges

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Obama seen untouched by Illinois governor charges

Wed Dec 10, 8:40 AM

By Deborah

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama's decision to keep a

distance from his state's governor, who was arrested on corruption

charges on Tuesday, should enable him to escape becoming tainted by

the scandal, analysts said.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich stands accused of trying to sell the

president-elect's vacant U.S. Senate seat for financial and other

personal benefits for himself and his wife, among other charges.

" Obama is not related to the corruption pattern in Chicago, " said

political scientist Dick Simpson of the University of Illinois in

Chicago. " He has not been pressing for any person to replace him in

his Senate seat. "

U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald, announcing the charges, also said

Obama was in no way implicated.

Obama, who takes office on January 20, left the Senate soon after

winning the November 4 presidential election. As governor,

Blagojevich, a Democrat, has sole authority to announce a replacement

to serve the remaining two years of Obama's term.

Obama told reporters he was " saddened and sobered. "

" I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not

aware of what was happening. As I said, it is a sad day for Illinois.

Beyond that I don't think it's appropriate to comment, " he said.

Obama senior adviser Axelrod had said on November 23 in an

interview with Fox News Chicago that Obama had " 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. "

Axelrod issued a brief written statement on Tuesday saying he had

been wrong.

" I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the

president-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the

Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the

subject, " Axelrod said.

Relations between Obama and Blagojevich had long been tense, with

Obama pointedly not including his own governor in campaign events.

That should help Obama, analysts said.

" Obama had the good sense to stay far, far away from Blagojevich and

all of his people, " said Democratic consultant Dane Strother.

" You never saw Blagojevich in Obama's camp, you never saw his name

during the campaign. Obama's people were plenty smart enough to stay

way away from Blagojevich and all the people around Blagojevich, " he

said.

Jay , director of the Better Government Association, a Chicago

watchdog group, agreed: " This is all about Rod, it's not about the

president-elect, " he said.

REPUBLICAN VIEWPOINT

Still, Republicans tried to make political hay from the scandal. The

Republican National Committee issued a statement saying Obama had

advised and supported Blagojevich's 2006 re-election, four years

after he became the first Democratic governor of Illinois in nearly

30 years.

" Given the President-elect's history of supporting and advising Gov.

Blagojevich, he has a responsibility to speak out and fully address

the issue, " said RNC chairman Mike Duncan.

Another connection is Antoin " Tony " Rezko, a Chicago real estate

developer and one-time fund-raiser for both men. Obama severed ties

with Rezko, who was found guilty of corruption earlier this year, but

their relationship caused him some embarrassment during the

presidential election campaign.

" I don't think that this is going to impact one iota on Barack

Obama, " said Democratic strategist Doug Schoen. " Given the nature of

the problems we're facing in the country, this has no relevance. No

impact. "

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, editing by

and Alan Elsner)