DIARY OF A POLITICAL KILL: JIM JOHNSON

Well that was quick.  Politics is a full contact sport.  It can be messy and brutal.  One of the reasons so many people have tuned into this election is because of the daily dramas that unfold.  It’s better than reality TV.

There’s an old saying: “Don’t shoot what you can’t kill.”  Well the Republicans recently put one of Obama’s top guys in their cross hairs hoping to get lucky, and lo and behold were able to take that poor bastard out. 

He had 7 days to live.

Meet Jim Johnson.  He was tapped, along with Caroline Kennedy and a man named Eric Holder, to find out any and all information possible about prospective vice presidential candidates for Obama.  It’s a process known as “vetting.” 

Johnson is a well-liked Washington insider who at one point received a loan from a company called Countrywide Financial.  The terms of the loan aren’t clear, but there was speculation that it was a ”sweetheart” loan — meaning the loan rates might have been below market averages.  None of this was known for sure, since again, the terms of the loan aren’t known — but Johnson had connections to the company so people raised the possibility of foul play. 

Countrywide is a toxic company right now since they were the single biggest originators of subprime home loans in recent years; these “adjustable rate” loans are credited with largely contributing to our weak economy right now, since they make it very hard for people to pay their mortgage and lead to foreclosures.  You’ve heard the phrases “housing crisis,” “housing meltdown,” this is what they’re talking about.

So to recap: Johnson acts as an unpaid volunteer to Obama, advises him on possible VPs.  In his past, Johnson received a loan from a “bad” company, no one knows the terms of the loan, but Johnson appears guilty by association even though he may have done nothing wrong.

With me so far?  Cause here’s where it gets interesting.

Obama’s running as a change candidate: ‘out with the old politics and way of doing things; we need new leadership and new direction,’ et ceteta. 

But Johnson’s “ties” to Countrywide Financial could be exploited to make Obama seem hypocritical, after all: if he is a change agent why is he taking political advice from someone who received a personal loan from a well connected company that did bad things? 

The Republicans thought they had a window here to hurt Obama so they set out to savage Johnson.

They called the issue of Johnson’s loan an ”emerging scandal within [Obama's] campaign” and said it was evidence of “weak leadership.”

Obama defended Johnson, as recently as yesterday, calling these attacks a political “game” and a “distraction,” and said that he wasn’t going to “vet his vetters” — meaning — screw off with this personal loan stuff, it has absolutely nothing to do with me or my campaign.

But in politics often all you need is the appearance of guilt for someone to lose everything.  

So a few moments ago Johnson resigned from the Obama campaign, saying:

“I believe Barack Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States is the most exciting and important of my lifetime … I would not dream of being a party to distracting attention from that historic effort.”

Johnson fell on his sword so Obama wouldn’t have to answer anymore questions about the private life of one of his unpaid volunteers.  So does the removal of Johnson satisfy the Republicans?

No:

“Jim Johnson’s resignation raises serious questions about Barack Obama’s judgment…”

Johnson held his position for 7 days.  It was never known if he did anything improper, but he lost his job nonetheless due to political crossfire and the all powerful guilt by association.

So this should put the whole Obama VP search committee thing to bed, right? 

Wrong: the Republicans are now off to try to claim their second kill.  Johnson’s body isn’t even cold yet and we get this:

“If Barack Obama is concerned his campaign’s ties to special interests are distracting from his VP search and message, why is Eric Holder still on his search committee…”

Can we at least agree that Sweet Caroline is above reproach?

Tags: Barack Obama, James Johnson, Jim Johnson, Republicans, Vet the VP, Vice Presidential vetters