Barack Obama sidesteps scandals

Through the years, we have all heard about how corrupt politics are in Illinois, especially in Chicago. I've never been quite sure how to separate fact from fiction regarding some of the stories I've heard, but there is no question it is a colorful and sometimes corrupt place.

Of course, a remarkable chapter was recently added to the state's political history when federal prosecutors accused Gov. Rod Blagojevich with attempting to auction off the vacant Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama.

If the allegations in the FBI's affidavit against him are correct, then he earns high marks for chutzpah. Unfortunately for him, he will also inherit the crown for being the stupidest politician of this generation.

Obviously, this man is innocent until proven guilty. However, the contents of the affidavit are strongly incriminating. I'd like to quote some of the alleged comments of Blagojevich, but most of them are so filled with profanities that I'm afraid this blog would be shut down if I did.

With the charges against him, many focused on whether President-elect Obama had any knowledge of his alleged activities. Nothing in the affidavit remotely implies that Obama was involved in any way with this.

However, Obama's ascent to the presidency as a candidate of 'change' is pretty ironic when considering that he emerged from a political place primarily known for its machine-like politics.

The Chicago Democratic Machine is perhaps the most powerful political machine in the country, but Obama opponents failed to associate him with it during the recent presidential campaign.

Some campaign commercials attempted to link him to Chicago's history of dirty politics, but it did not resonate with the public. Of course, Obama supporters will state that this is because it wasn't true. They would claim that he largely side-stepped machine politics, but that would be oversimplifying the issue.

Obama's friendship to Antoin 'Tony' Rezko who provided financial support to him has been well documented. Rezko was recently convicted of corruption, according to the Associated Press.

Plus, there is Obama's friendship with Blagojevich. Obama did call on him to resign as governor after his arrest, but it is a little hard to believe that Obama didn't have detailed knowledge of the process being used to select who would take his seat in the Senate. However, that's just my opinion.

While observing Obama during the last year or so, I believe that he has been blessed with the gift of being a 'Teflon' politician. Nothing sticks to him.

I don't mean that as an insult. Sometimes having a Teflon coating can be the best resource a politician can have.

Ronald Reagan had it, and so did Bill Clinton to a certain degree. The ability to sidestep scandals is an important trait to have. Some people call it 'crisis management,' and given the scrutiny politicians are under, they better be good at it.

All of which takes us back to the plight of Blagojevich. If he is guilty of these charges, what in the world was he thinking? As the governor of one of our nation's largest states, he certainly had a lot of power. Perhaps he thought he was untouchable. If so, it wouldn't be the first time pride reduced a politician to rubble.

We've seen it a lot over the years whether it was Richard Nixon resigning as president because of the Watergate episode or Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton being forced from office early because of his role in a 'cash-for-clemency' scandal.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.