Another Candidate, Another Job Offer
By PETER BAKER
A Democratic candidate challenging Senator Michael Bennet in a Colorado primary said on Wednesday that the White House suggested several possible jobs with the administration in an effort to get him to drop out of the race, much as it did in a Pennsylvania primary.
Andrew Romanoff, a former speaker of the Colorado House seeking to take the party nomination away from Mr. Bennet, said that while no job was formally offered, three specific positions were mentioned as possibilities last September. He said he declined to consider the opportunities to pursue his race for the Senate.
The statement by Mr. Romanoff confirmed reports last September by the Denver Post, which cited unnamed sources. Until now, Mr. Romanoff has declined to discuss the matter but he said he wanted to clear the air given fresh media interest following the disclosure that the White House also explored an administration position in a failed effort to get Representative Joe Sestak to drop out of a Pennsylvania Democratic primary.
The latest development intensified attention on White House political tactics in a hotly contested mid-term election year. It is not unusual for presidents of either party to offer political appointments to achieve political aims, such as clearing the nomination field for an ally and Mr. Obama’s aides have said they did nothing wrong. But Republicans have called for an investigation, citing a federal law making it illegal to offer a position to influence a primary election.
“Just how deep does the Obama White House’s effort to invoke Chicago-style politics for the purpose of manipulating elections really go?” Representative Darrell Issa of California, the senior Republican on the House oversight committee, asked after Mr. Romanoff’s statement. The latest episodes “are indicative of a culture that embraces the politics-as-usual mentality that the American people are sick and tired of.”
The Justice Department so far has rebuffed calls for an investigation and even some Republicans, including former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey and President George W. Bush’s top ethics lawyer, have said it would be a stretch to call the White House action regarding Mr. Sestak a crime. But the focus on such tactics undercuts the image Mr. Obama has tried to cultivate as a reformer above the usual politics.
In describing his contacts with the White House for the first time, Mr. Romanoff said he received a telephone call last September from Jim Messina, the president’s deputy chief of staff, telling him that the White House would support Mr. Bennet in the contested primary.
“Mr. Messina also suggested three positions that might be available to me were I not pursuing the Senate race,” Mr. Romanoff said. “He added that he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions. At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina’s assistance in obtaining one.”
Mr. Messina then sent an e-mail message later in the day describing three possible positions. The e-mail message, which Mr. Romanoff released on Wednesday, suggested he consider deputy assistant administrator for Latin America at the United States Agency for International Development; director of the same agency’s office of democracy and governance; or deputy director of the United States Trade and Development Agency.
“I left him a voicemail informing him that I would not change course,” Mr. Romanoff said. “I have not spoken with Mr. Messina, nor have I discussed this matter with anyone else in the White House, since then.”
Mr. Bennet is leading in the latest polls. The primary is Aug. 10. |
