After a two-day lull, media coverage of the Illinois Senate seat scandal hit the front pages and led two out of three network newscasts again. The occasion was the Obama camp's release of a report detailing its contacts with Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The President-elect and his top aides have not been accused of any wrongdoing, and most (though not all) media coverage of the story overwhelmingly states that the report released yesterday substantiates the Obama team's version of events.
Typical of the coverage was ABC's Nightline, which reported, "Obama did discuss a list of preferred candidates with his top aides, and the report says the President-elect 'understood that [[incoming White House chief of staff Rahm] Emanuel would relay the names to the governor's office.' Still, the report is consistent with what US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said about the President-elect when he announced the allegations against Blagojevich." US Attorney Fitzgerald: "We made no allegations that he is aware of anything and that's as simply as I can put it."
Still, some media analysts said the Obama review left some questions unanswered. NBC Nightly News notes the review said that Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett "had a conversation with a top union official in Illinois who told her the Governor had talked to him about possibly getting a cabinet appointment in the Obama Administration -- a prospect that both Jarrett and the union official regarded as ridiculous and highly unlikely." The Wall Street Journal also notes that the head of the Service Employees International Union in Illinois, Tom Balanoff, "approached Ms. Jarrett and related the governor's desire to be named Health and Human Services secretary while also mentioning the governor was considering her for the Senate seat, according to the Obama memo." The New York Times says "this conversation, outlined for the first time, could be of interest in the criminal case against Mr. Blagojevich." In an analysis segment on NBC Night News, Chuck Todd said Balanoff and Jarrett "may have laughed it off. But the question for Valerie Jarrett, did she pass on this information to the President-elect. This was taking place at a time when she was still under consideration for the Senate seat. And what did the union official know about what Blagojevich was doing?" The Washington Post notes "the report does not make clear why Blagojevich stated that he thought the Obama staff was 'not willing to give me anything.' It states that none of Obama's staff ever suspected that the governor was seeking anything improper in exchange for the Senate seat."
WMAQ-TV Chicago also said that the report "presents a picture somewhat at odds with the 'hands-off approach' that Mr. Obama talked about days after his election." On MSNBC's Hardball, contributor Jim Warren, formerly of the Chicago Tribune, said, "Obama comes off a tad more proactive when it came to figuring out or trying to help the governor figure out who to place him in the Senate than he has previously suggested." The Chicago Tribune also notes the point.
Obama Questioned By US Attorney The report included one tidbit of new news: US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald actually questioned the President-elect and some of his top aides last week. The AP reports the Obama interview "was a fascinating revelation"; ABC World News referred to it as "an unusual occurrence"; NBC Nightly News said the report "contained something of a surprise"; and the CBS Evening News noted the report's "one revelation." The Washington Times says the report "injected the political specter of an incoming president being interviewed by federal authorities in a Chicago corruption investigation shortly before taking the oath of office."
Another bit of news in the report was noted by the Chicago Tribune, which says Emanuel, "in a follow-up call" to Blagojevich's chief of staff, at some point "added two names approved by Obama" in addition to Jarrett -- to the list of possible Senate replacements, "Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan and Cheryle Jackson, a former Blagojevich spokeswoman who now heads the Chicago Urban League." The Politico, USA Today, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, McClatchy, AP, The Hill, and AFP, among other news outlets, also report the story this morning.
The Hill reports, "The White House on Tuesday, in reaction to a 0.5 percent drop of the gross domestic product in the third quarter, said that things would get worse before they get better." White House spokesman Tony Fratto "noted that the economy has slowed since the end of the third quarter in September. 'The fourth quarter we know, because of the credit crisis, the standstill in credit as markets froze up and the financial market turmoil, will be significantly weaker."
More negative reports on the economy were released yesterday, which media reports said indicated the recession was quickly deepening. The AP reports the "longest recession in a quarter century is snowballing, and some analysts warn that economic activity could plunge as much as 6 percent this quarter, which would be the largest decline since 1982." Another AP dispatch notes "US home sales in 2008 are expected to be the worst in a decade, November data confirmed Tuesday, and there appears to be no quick turnaround coming next year." Existing home sales "plunged to a rate of 4.49 million last month, down 8.6 percent from October, and worse than economists predicted."
The networks all briefly noted the negative housing news, while NBC Nightly News said the "figures...surprised even economists. Home sales dropped the most in two decades, with prices declining at a pace not seen since the Great Depression." The Financial Times reports, "Home prices were expected to continue to decline for the next five quarters as a growing number of foreclosure sales further depressed prices, according to David Stiff, chief economist at Fiserv Case-Shiller."
The Wall Street Journal reports "a deepening recession and tight credit conditions are compounding problems in the housing market, suggesting that declines in home prices may continue well into 2009." The Washington Post reports "the market could fall harder as unemployment rises and government and industry efforts fail to stem foreclosure."
Stocks Fall Again The AP reports, "Wall Street pulled back again Tuesday in muted trading ahead of the holiday, as another round of reports showed further deterioration in the housing market and broader economy." The Dow Jones "shed 100.28, or 1.18 percent, to 8,419.49. The Dow is well off the multiyear lows it tumbled to in mid-November, but it is still down more than 400 points, or 4.6 percent, so far for the month of December." The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Times among other media sources, also report the stock numbers.
Demand For Food Aid Up The CBS Evening News reported "a record number of people are now being forced to do something they once considered unthinkable." From "New Hampshire to California, the story's the same: More and more families relying on faith-based groups and the Federal Government to eat."
Downturn Said To Spark Shoplifting Wave The CBS Evening News reported, "Meanwhile, as the economy worsens, a growing number of Americans are taking desperate and illegal measures. Eighty-four percent of retailers report an increase in shoplifting." Stealing "in stores is up 10% to 20%. In fact, one in 11 Americans shoplift, costing merchants $35 million a day."
President Bush's slate of 19 pardons and one prison commutation didn't make it onto the network newscasts last night, but is being covered by major newspapers. The majority of press attention is going to the pardon for Charles Thompson Winters. USA Today reports Winters was "a Protestant sentenced to 18 months in prison for helping to supply military aircraft to Jews fighting to establish the state of Israel in 1948." He "died in 1984, but his son Jimmy took up the cause for a presidential pardon."
The Washington Post recounts that "Winters took an unusual step for a Boston-born Protestant businessman: He waded into the bloody struggle for a Jewish state in the Middle East, selling decommissioned B-17 bombers to the Haganah resistance group and even helping to fly one of the planes overseas."
In a front-page titled "Jailed For Aiding Israel, But Pardoned By Bush," the New York Times reports "Winters was among a group of several hundred Americans and Canadians referred to by the Israelis by the Hebrew acronym of 'machal,' or 'volunteers from outside Israel.'" The AP says Winters is "considered a hero in Israel." McClatchy also reports on Winters.
Another AP dispatch lists all 19 pardons, and notes Bush "commuted the prison sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines, Iowa. Prior was convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced in 1996 in the Southern District of Iowa to life in prison with 10 years of supervised release."
USA Today reports the latest cases bring to "199 the number of people he has pardoned or granted clemency to during his eight-year term. ... Only his father, George H.W. Bush, with 74 pardons and three prison-term commutations, used it less in recent history."
No Pardon For Libby The AP reports "well-known names were not on Bush's holiday pardon list. There have been efforts to get Bush to pardon former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, who was convicted in 2000 with four others in a scheme to rig riverboat casino licensing; disgraced track star Marion Jones, who lied about using steroids; Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, former US Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a drug smuggler in 2005 and trying to cover it up; and Michael Milken, junk bond king who was convicted of securities fraud." Also not on the list was "Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby." The New York Times reports Libby "has been at the top of the speculative lists that accompany the holiday season."
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The AP reports this morning that Minnesota voters "won't know who won the state's U.S. Senate race this year, and it's looking more likely that the new Congress will be sworn in before the race ends between" Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and challenger Al Franken (D). The state canvassing board is set to meet to consider outstanding ballot issues on January 5, the day before the Congress is sworn in, and has warned that its work could spill over until the next day. USA Today reports that while Franken currently leads Coleman by 47 votes, that total "does not include as many as 1,600 absentee ballots that were incorrectly rejected by local officials on Nov. 4. Minnesota's Supreme Court ordered that those ballots be counted. Either campaign may challenge individual absentee ballots during that process."
Minnesota Public Radio reported on its website that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office "told Minnesota Public Radio News that it's perfectly acceptable for the Senate to seat the winner of Minnesota's race after Minnesota certifies a victor. Reid's office also said the Senate would be unlikely to declare a vacancy while Minnesota sorts out who won. Without an official vacancy, Governor Tim Pawlenty could not appoint an interim Senator."
The New York Times reports, "Resistance is emerging among Democratic officials" against Caroline Kennedy as she pursues Sen. Hillary Clinton's seat, "with Gov. David A. Paterson bristling over suggestions that her selection is inevitable, according to his advisers, and other leading Democrats concerned that she is too beholden to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg." The Albany Times Union adds Paterson "has become exasperated with the speculation. 'I'm certainly hoping that the time to confirm Secretary of State Hillary Clinton comes soon. Because we have reached a new high and new low in areas of gossip, speculation, mind-reading and otherwise information that I always wonder where the source of all this comes from,' he said during a conference phone call with reporters Tuesday."
The New York Daily News adds state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) said Kennedy's candidacy is "being promoted" by NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I) and his deputy "for political aspirations," adding, "And if I were the governor, I would look and question whether this is the appointment I would want to make: whether her first obligation might be to the mayor of the City of New York, rather than to the governor who would be appointing her."
Kennedy's Net Worth Said To "Easily" Be In Excess Of $100M The New York Daily News reports Kennedy "will feel right at home in the Millionaires' Club known as the U.S. Senate: The Camelot heiress' net worth easily tops $100 million, a Daily News review found." Noting that Kennedy "is refusing to release financial information as she seeks" appointment to Clinton's seat, the Daily News adds, "Public records paint a portrait of an enormously wealthy 51-year-old woman."
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Jay Leno: "It is freezing everywhere. It was so cold in Washington, even Bill and Hillary were snuggling."
Jay Leno: "It was so cold in Alaska, somebody is putting chapstick on a pig."
David Letterman: "One percent of Americans participating in this poll believe believe -- Dick Cheney is the best Vice President ever. Everybody else in the poll believes that that one percent should be wearing funny hats."
Conan O'Brien: "The White House staff has been briefing Barack Obama's team on a series of worst-case scenarios that could face the country after President Bush leaves office. That's the latest. Yeah. Apparently, the absolute worst case scenario is that Bush doesn't leave office."
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