45% Believe Obama Involved in Blago Scandal

That isn't very reassuring for the incoming president. Americans are generally not stupid people and have seen more than enough scandal coming out of Chicago to know that winning elections there requires some shenanigans and a you scratch my back mentality. Hell, JFK had his election bought for him there.

Still, a man who was elected on a platform of hope and change isn't too respected if 45% believe he or someone in his staff was involved with Blago:

Forty five percent (45%) of U.S. voters say it is likely President-elect Obama or one of his top campaign aides was involved in the unfolding Blagojevich scandal in Illinois, including 23% who say it is Very Likely.

Just 11% say it is not at all likely, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken Thursday and Friday nights.

Voters nationally are more skeptical than those in Illinois. Thirty-two percent (32%) of Illinois voters said in a survey late last week that there is no way Obama was involved in the Blagojevich case, while only 13% said it is Very Likely that the president-elect was involved, with another 13% saying it is Somewhat Likely.

This is a textbook example of how not to handle a scandal. This story should have been forgotten by now but Blagojevich isn't playing along and Obama is stammering with his answers or not answering at all. He looks guilty of something and ignoring it isn't going to make it disappear.

US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald will play it straight and start talking about a reduced sentence for Rezko who's talking and once Blago realizes that he's not going to win and a jail term awaits, he'll start screeching too.

That's all fine and good with me.

Update: This is another example of how amateurish the Obama transition people are. They have completed their investigation, of course found no one did anything wrng but won't release it until next week. Another week for a scandal that could have been taken care of within a day or two. If this is how his administration is going to be, the GOP will gain back majority status in both the House and the Senate in 2010.

As an added bonus, Rahm Emanuel was cordial but still hasn't said squat to the press.

Rezko Sings, Blago Stonewalls and Obama Sweats

It isn't going away soon. With Rezko talking and trying to save his skin, the entire political Democratic establishment in Chicago must be sweating bullets:

"Tony" Rezko's offer to provide authorities with evidence of others' wrongdoing is "not complete," and prosecutors are working to corroborate the claims he has made so far, the footnote said.

Rezko, a 53-year-old developer, was convicted in June of 16 criminal counts, including fraud, money laundering and abetting bribery. He is in custody awaiting sentencing.

Prosecutors depicted Rezko at trial as a fixer for Blagojevich and the man to see to secure a high-level appointment with the governor's administration. Rezko had been a longtime fundraiser for Blagojevich and other Illinois politicians, including Obama.

But Fitzgerald never mentioned anything about another scandal; the Obama/Rezko land deal where the Obama's made out like bandits thanks to the largess of Rezko. Should a special prosecutor be named, the probe will most-certainly expand to include that transaction.

As for Blagojevich, I would be very surprised if the guy didn't keep every single e-mail and maybe even tape calls and conversations. He plays hardball and he knows that every correspondence could be one that brings him power by holding it as a trump cards (or a get out of jail free card as it were. If he has any info that he's withholding, especially if it implicates Obama after The One has already gone on record as saying he was not involved, we would be looking at the biggest scandal since at least Lewinsky but since this involves subverting the electoral process, would be much worse.

Let's see how it plays out but one would be an utter fool to think that Obama has no skeletons in the Chicago political closet. He'd be very wise to start letting those dark secrets out while he has a bit of a honeymoon than letting them trickle out day-by-day.

Regardless of Who Wins, Race Relations Will Suffer

Here we are on the final day of a race that literally began on January 21, 2005. Back then, it looked as though it was Hillary's race to lose with her competition being perhaps John Edwards or Al Gore.

As the race started heating up, before the Iowa Caucuses, we saw the advent of a new campaign strategy, one which had never been used and the playbook showed no defense against it: the Race Card. Many of us had toughened our skin for the expected incoming volley of "sexism!" hurled our way by the Hillary acolytes.We expected to be portrayed as the biggest misogynist's since Dabney Coleman in the movie 9 to 5.

Then something interesting happened, Obama started playing the race card against Hillary, at first subtly and always through proxies, but later in a more overt fashion. Hillary soon found out that the sexism card was a king but the racism card was an ace. They accused Bill Clinton of racism and then leveled their attacks at the rest of the campaign. Hill's campaign withered under the barrage and Hillary was cast aside like an old pair of sneakers. Not even a VP nod.

Then came the general election and the race card was not held in check for a crucial moment but was used daily against McCain. Question Obama about Rev. Wright? You were racist. Question him about Tony Rezko? You were a racist. William Ayers, Father Pflegel, ACORN? Racist, racist, racist! Those Obama associates you brought up concerns about need not be black, oh no, just the fact that you would question the ascension of The One was enough to brand you with the new scarlet letter--a huge "R". The racial dynamic so skillfully played by Obama to gain the votes and the way he played on our past racial history was brilliantly devious.

Now here we are on the cusp of electing the first black man as President. His supporters pledge that we will be unified because we have overcome our prejudices to vote him in. They fail to see that there is one half of this great nation that will not support Obama. They are sick of being called racist because they didn't agree with the policies of the man. The fact that they supported McCain had absolutely nothing to do with race didn't matter, the race card was a means to an end for the Obama people and they used it like a hammer.

We've seen several pieces written about what would happen if McCain were to win but we've seen none about the harm in an Obama win. The media has bought into the unity garbage when in reality we will be more partisan than ever before. I for one don't appreciate being labeled racist for every criticism and then be expected to exult when Obama wins, it just doesn't work that way. I'll wear that "R" with pride because I know I'm not racist and the only things I'm prejudiced against are horrible policies that will harm this nation. So, I guess you can say I am prejudiced against Obama in a way.

If Obama wins tonight, the media will undoubtedly follow the meme that we are all one again and America's standing in the world will be greater. They will fall in line and we'll see stories about seas stabilizing and Red Sox and Yankee fans in a new harmony, hugging and singing together. But the media, in their rush to portray the world as cured, will miss the big story: That half this country will not support Barack Obama regardless of what the Spanish, Venezuelans or Gazans say. We were maligned as bigots and worse for no other reason than political expediency.

Obama, by playing the race card, has set back race relations in this country by twenty years. By screaming racism constantly, he cheapened the definition and thereby lessened the impact when true racism raises its ugly head. Liberals have always said that we need to have a discussion about race in America and indeed, we just had it. It was one side screaming that the other was bigoted and the other cringing every time it was said to them. It was America getting a peak into the churches of hate and being horrified that a preacher would scream "God damn America!" or "AmeriKKKa!" from the pulpit. It's 95% of African-Americans voting for Obama and the media saying nothing whereby if 95% of whites were to do so for McCain they would be screaming that whites are racist.

If McCain wins, there will be chaos for certain. The calls of racism from within and without this country will be staggering. For certain, we will face the greatest racial divide since the 1940's with African-Americans opting out of the voting process for a decade.

Alas, regardless of the outcome,we will be more polarized after tonight than we will be unified and we have only Barack Obama and the media to blame for that. Not only polarized left vs. right but polarized by race, a sad period I believed was tossed in the dust bin of history.

Tuesday Evening Notes and News

On the road again...

Here's some news from around the Internet:

Are theaters playing fast and loose with tickets for the conservative, Michael Moore-bashing An American Carol?

Here's the SNL skit eviscerating Pelosi, Soros, Bush and Frank plus those who got subprime loans. It was taken down by NBC, put back up, taken down and now it's up again. No bias here, just everyone move along...:


Sarah Palin continues to hammer Obama on William Ayers forcing him to respond and go on defense. Old Baba Wawa is not at all happy about this. Pitbull in lipstick, baby!

Yeah, that bailout solved all our problems, didn't it?

Is Tony Rezko about to speak and give Obama serious agita?

Palin Finally Takes the Gloves Off

Sarah Palin should have been unleashed weeks ago but the McCain campaign bigwigs held her under wraps. They've taken the high road for the majority of the campaign but now know that's just not working.

This weekend began the nasty part of the campaign and the 'Cuda went for the jugular:

Sarah Palin defended her claim that Barack Obama "pals around with terrorists," saying the Democratic presidential nominee's association with a 1960s radical is an issue that is "fair to talk about."

Obama has denounced the radical views and actions of Bill Ayers, a founder of the violent Weather Underground group during the Vietnam era. On Sunday, Obama dismissed the criticism from the McCain campaign, leveled by Palin, as "smears" meant to distract voters from real problems such as the troubled economy.

Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, launched the attack Saturday and repeated it Sunday, signaling a new strategy by John McCain's presidential campaign to go after Obama's character.

That should be Obama's lack of character but I digress. Note the headline, Palin doesn't have to defend any comments, she made them, they're true, case closed. Charles has more here.

The door is now open, Obama has indicated that he will go after McCain on the Keating 5 scandal so he is now open for attacks that spotlight: Jeremiah Wright, Father Pfleger, Fannie Mae, Tony Rezko and the myriad other shady scandals The One has been associated with. It seems like McCain has a lot more to work with than does Obama. Keating 5 versus Rezko, Wright and Ayers? I like the Maverick's chances with that.

Using Palin for this is a good strategy, she can call out Obama for his association with Ayers but do it with a twinkle in her eye and without sounding shrill like Hillary, a nice talent. The media were forced to respond this weekend but in true MSM fashion wrote it off as no big deal. When the possible next President of the US has a known friendship with a man who bombed the Pentagon and police stations and is unrepentant, it's a big deal even if they don't think so.

The Wright story has been widely reported but that was during the primaries and most people were paying little attention. Bring it out and hammer it daily, especially Wright's "God damn America!" outburst. Make the Rezko story the subject of an entire speech explaining exactly what the issues are.

McCain is in trouble due to a poor campaign to this point. With twenty nine days left, it's crunch time and it's time for serious hardball. Get ready, the race card is about to be whipped out as often as possible as that is Obama's only defense, but it won't affect the 'Cuda. Palin has withstood a media beating that would rival Balboa in the first Rocky. Still she gets up and fights throwing haymakers and keeping Apollo Obama on the ropes.

I'm not sure McCain has the heart to hang but I know that Palin's spine is steely.

Update: The entire devastating Hannity show on Obama's oily associations aired last night on Fox News can be found at You Tube.

Update: Nothing to see here, move along...

Update: More of this please: