No Guilt by Association with Blagojevich

Republicans are desperate. We saw it during the campaign, when they resorted to “guilt by association,” trying to tie Barack Obama to Bill Ayers.

Now they’re at it again, trying to tie Obama to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). But this time, it’s so far-fetched even John McCain has told them to knock it off.

The facts are clear. Blagojevich decided on his own to try to profit from his appointment of a Senate successor to Barack Obama. While Obama himself had nothing to do with it.

He was part of no deal. Nor was anybody on his staff part of any deal. In fact, while it would have made perfect sense for Obama to call Blago and discuss the Senate appointment, Obama didn’t even do that. The only contact between the Obama and Blagojevich camps was a call from Rahm Emanuel giving the governor a list of candidates acceptable to the president-elect. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Instead of turning themselves inside out, trying to implicate Obama in Blagojevich’s crooked dealings, Republicans ought to take John McCain’s advice. Give it up. That dog don’t hunt.

In this case, guilt by association doesn’t work. Just because they’re both Democrats … Just because they’re both from Illinois … Just because they both live in Chicago … doesn’t mean Obama had anything to do with Blagojevich’s crooked deals. And Republicans are wasting their time trying to suggest otherwise.

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